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FINANCIAL Services Minister Chris Bowen has denounced commissions paid to financial advisers, likening them to donations paid to politicians, and has supported the prospect of a new duty for advisers to act in the best interests of their clients.

In an address to the Financial Planning Association national conference in Melbourne yesterday, he said times were changing for financial advisers, The Australian reported.

"Regardless of whether commissions create genuine conflicts of interest ... they invariably create an overwhelming perception of conflict, a perception that financial advice may be self-serving ... " he said.

"Here, in my view, there are some parallels between the financial planning sector and the political realm.''

Mr Bowen stopped short of recommending a ban on commissions, but he warned that any regulatory changes would be guided by the need for planners to give advice that was in the best interests of their clients.

The minister's comments come ahead of the release of a report into the financial industry and the collapse of Storm Financial on Monday.

The Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services report is expected to recommend a new duty for financial planners to act in the best interests of their clients, but to shy away from a ban on commissions.

Industry superannuation funds, which do not pay commissions to financial planners, have been fiercely lobbying the committee this week to recommend a ban.

Industry Super Network executive manager David Whiteley said just as doctors were not remunerated by drug companies, financial advisers should not be paid by product providers, because it created a conflict of interest.

"What's really important is that Minister Bowen has clearly now stated that there should be a fiduciary obligation on financial planners to act in the best interests of their clients," he said.

However, the Investment and Financial Services Association chief executive John Brogden said commissions did not influence the advice given by financial planners to their clients.

While the industry supported a new duty for financial advisers to act in their clients' best interests, he said, this was not inconsistent with commissions paid by product manufacturers.

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