Merger talks between the two advisory associations are back on, and a new deadline has been set for a proposed union.
Representatives from the Association of Investment Advisers and Financial Planners (IAFP) and the Insurance and Investment Advisers Association (IIAA) met last week.
Representing the IAFP were reinstated negotiators Gary Stevens and Phillip Matthews.
Stevens says the two negotiating teams have agreed to a new timetable and are likely to do away with the services of a professional facilitator.
"If we can't work together it (the proposed merger) would never take place anyway," he says.
The negotiators have put the merger date back to October 1. Previously it was intended that if a merger was to take place it would be from April 1, the start of the IAFP's financial year.
None of the IAFP board contacted by Good Returns were aware of these latest developments.
Stevens says there is quite a lot of work to do in this period, including preparing a draft merger document, taking it to the respective associations for discussion then amendment, followed by formal ratification.
He says the merger process has been delayed because it lost momentum late last year and the negotiators want to evaluate the work which was done in the period from their dismissal at the end of August to their reinstatement in December.
Stevens says the proposed merger has become a little bit more complicated because of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) issue.
At an IAFP special meeting just before Christmas, members agreed retaining and protecting the CFP designation was an imperative of any merger.
Stevens says further negotiations will be needed with the Denver-based CFP International Board of Standards to resolve ownership and use of the designation.
The two negotiating teams have agreed to can the federation proposal and go back to the college model as outlined in the proposal put to members in July.
"There has been some tweaks to that document," Stevens says.
Meanwhile, there is no word on whether Rodger Spiller and Mark Hubber will action their threat to resign from their respective positions of IAFP chairman and deputy chairman.
Spiller is still overseas and Hubber had no comment on the matter.
It is expected their decision will be known next month, possibly around the time of the February 12 board meeting.
Merger talks between the two advisory associations are back on, and a new deadline has been set for a proposed union.