Since the global financial crisis, financial advisers have had to work at and think harder about their value proposition.
Fast-forward to this year’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry and various high profile cases of poor financial planning advice have taken a toll on the planning industry. Client trust is in the spotlight and adviser qualifications are once again under review.
Increased regulation, compliance and reforms to education standards, has prompted some advisers to reposition their business to focus on what they’re most passionate about.
We interviewed a number of advisers who have either made, or are in the process of making changes to their business, about the things that can make decision-making easier for when it comes to repositioning in the current environment.
(Note to self: grab a pen and paper!)
- List all the roles you are doing as an adviser day-in-day out
- Identify what you enjoy and what you don’t
- Identify where you provide the most value to your clients, and where you may not
- Identify the aspects of your role that you can outsource, and where you really can’t
- Once you’ve created your list, see if there is a link/match between the parts of your role that you don’t enjoy, or don’t add as much value, with what you can outsource.
While this part of the journey sounds simple, it is critical to making the right personal and financial decision on how you could transition your business. From that point, it’s a matter of taking action.
On the ground some advisers have already started repositioning themselves away from pure investment advice, on the basis that this is not their strength, towards a more strategic and holist advice offering.
For others it’s been an opportune time to rebrand themselves as a wealth or financial coach and even a money mentor.
We are also seeing more advisers refocusing their business to appeal to certain demographics such as women who want advice, millennials who need it, or older clients who have more money to invest and will soon hit the draw-down phase of their retirement planning.
While all this change is going on people/clients are also getting more financially savvy. They are reading more on finance in the media, and researching often, questioning costs and opting for more do-it-yourself solutions.
This means that what they want from financial advisers today is a lot more than it was yesterday.
This has created an environment where many clients aren’t willing to pay a lot of money for an advice on an on-going basis, and if they are willing to pay, they tend to be looking for more holistic and strategic advice to take control of their entire financial life.
Whatever path advisers take from this point on, the depth of client relationships and sincerity in understanding their life-stage will be key for adding value and restoring trust to the industry.
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