It wasn’t that long ago that the measure of a strong and successful dealer group was size.
Just like a celebrity embracing surgical augmentation or photoshopping, dealer groups have acquired by stealth, undertaken mergers and takeovers to ensure that their vital stat that mattered most, adviser numbers, was as large as humanly possible.
Many hard lessons have been learnt from such technics such as adviser retention problems, enforceable undertakings from ASIC, banned advisers, and unsustainable business models.
However, in my conversations with CEOs from a broad range of businesses across the dealer groups, I’ve noticed that the marketplace sentiment is extremely promising for the future of advice.
For those unaware or uninterested, we are getting close to Oscar time. Many a Hollywood star will be undergoing colonic irrigation in preparation for the big night, the pinnacle event of show business. Their goal in putting up with such an intrusive procedure is purposeful; their eyes must sparkle, their skin must glow and their hair must shine like silk. On a night such as this you cannot fake beauty, it must come from the inside out and it must be authentic. There is no possibility of photoshopping when you are live at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.
FoFA has created a prolonged ‘Oscar-like’ event for financial advice and it is pleasing to see. Dealer groups are systematically undertaking their own version of colonic irrigation and purging those that threaten the health and attractiveness of their business and its license now and into the future.
For the first time in the short history of financial services, dealer groups are declining to authorise practitioners based on the integrity of the person. In 2014, dealer groups cannot afford to accept anyone or anything that detracts from their authentic red carpet sparkle.
If you’re determining the right licensing solution for you, my advice is simple: be prepared to identify any potential toxins in your business, and invest both your energy and resources to eliminate them before making the move. In doing this, you will be rewarded with choice of high quality licensing options and your business universe will be bursting with goodness and health.
Finally, to those dealer group executives asking questions like ‘Would I refer my mother to this adviser?’ before signing off on their Authorised Representative application form, I applaud you. You are successfully marrying commerciality with integrity and setting the foundations for what will define a trusted practitioner. This will pay dividends for the future of advice, something every Australian needs.
As founder of Pinnacle Practice, Anne’s vision was to build a business that provided personalised and tailored advisory services to financial planning firms, licensees and financial services related product/service providers in order to help them achieve their growth objectives.
