Did you predict Donald Trump’s election?
It’s fair to say most people didn’t. While we can talk about the Overton window shifting to the right, or the disenfranchisement of the working class – in retrospect, obviously – the fact remains the majority of pundits, regardless of political persuasion, called the 2016 presidential election in Hillary Clinton’s favour.
What, you might ask, does this have to do with financial advice? I must admit I wondered the same when Australian National University academic Michael Wesley gave his speech at the 2018 Financial Planning Association congress.
As it turns out, though, there’s a clear lesson in there for the planning profession.
Winning the battle, losing the war
Wesley referred to the Napoleonic Wars, wherein Napoleon, despite being “good at winning battles,” ended up losing in the end. This saw France return to monarchy and never fully recovering its sphere of military influence.
What this suggests, he said, is that being good at your vocation won’t necessarily stem the tide of change.
The erosion of trust
Wesley then pivoted to the modern day, noting that trust in both institutions and expertise is at an all-time low. Only 25% of Australians, he added, had any trust in the advice profession.
Part of this, he said, was due to a rising populist sentiment – where “the experts” are often treated with derision.
Because of the disintermediation of information via the internet and the amount of negative stories about advisers being disseminated, there’s a general skepticism about giving authority to expertise.
As a result, simply being “good at what you do” is no longer good enough.
Narrow expertise, broad outlook
So what’s the next step? Wesley recognised the value of having a narrow set of expertise and skills – it allows you to specialise – but recommended advisers start thinking outside their profession in order to better understand their clients (both current and prospective).
That doesn’t just involve reading about how advisers are perceived in the community, by the way. He said it means developing a “broad set of interests” in politics, art, reading material and so on.
By doing so, he explained, advisers can better understand and anticipate changes and developments in both their profession and clients’ lives.
“Listen to new ideas,” he said. “Take a broad outlook. If you don’t, you’ll never see what’s coming.”
The opinions expressed in this content are those of the author shown, and do not necessarily represent those of No More Practice Education Pty Ltd or its related entities. All content is intended for a professional financial adviser audience only and does not constitute financial advice. To view our full terms and conditions, click here.
