What the advice community needs in 2020

There’s no denying 2019 was a challenging 12 months for the financial services industry, and financial advisers in particular. With the FASEA regime kicking in, multiple dealer groups closing and the broad increase in costs, particularly compliance costs the price of doing business escalated.

We’ve seen highly experienced advisers electing to leave the industry and less seasoned advisers become unsure of how they’re going to find and service clients in the future.

More broadly, 2019 has been a challenging time for all Australians, with the country being beset by drought and bushfires. Multiple families have lost their homes, people have lost their lives and entire communities have had to be evacuated.

With all that in mind, it’s easy to understand why we may not be feeling the holiday spirit.   But just as Christmas is a time to reunite with family and friends it also serves to remind us of the most important things in life.  It’s also an opportunity to prepare for the year ahead.

As advisers, your businesses – in fact, your profession as a whole – is in a state of flux. Change is always a difficult process, but there’s opportunity there, too. Consider the impacts of the Retail Distribution Review in the UK, which saw many advisers leaving the industry – but those that stayed found a way through and prospered.

Remember you are not alone. The entire financial services community has been affected by not only recent reforms and the Royal Commission, but also the impacts of new technologies and the evolving demands and preferences of a new customer-base. More importantly clients need good advisers.  Fund managers and Platforms need advisers. We all have a vested interest in the advice sector not only enduring but succeeding.

Solidarity means now is the perfect time for the industry as a whole to collaborate on new ideas and more efficient ways of doing business in this new environment. That includes regulatory issues as was reflected in our latest series, Future Talk, we’re a far more effective voice to Government when we’re consistent in our message.

So let’s make next year – and the next decade – the period where we collaborate more and work towards creating a better future for the Australian investor. 

Until then, Happy Holidays to you and yours.


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