Sue Viskovic
Top advice firms display operational maturity, which is evidenced by ten essential characteristics, leading to EBIT margins of 35-40 per cent and employee and client satisfaction scores of 90+ per cent, according to a new paper produced by Vital Business Partners (VBP), in partnership with Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich).
Titled, Optimum Operating Models for Advice Firms, the paper examines how advice firms are redesigning their operations and leveraging AI and automation to address key challenges, namely the requirement to do more with less, due to declining adviser numbers, mounting compliance requirements and rising client expectations.
Leveraging VBP’s experience working with advice businesses of all sizes, the report details the ten foundational building blocks of a high-performance operating model, including clarity of roles, documented processes and measurable service standards, backed by “leadership that leans in”.
According to Sue Viskovic, Head of Consulting at VBP, efficiency alone is no longer enough to guarantee success.
It is how a firm is structured, including its organisational design, team architecture and operational model, that determines its ability to consistently deliver high quality advice and client outcomes at scale.
“The firms that thrive are those that combine structure, systems and leadership to create businesses that are both scalable and sustainable,” Viskovic said.
“At their core, they’re also client obsessed. Client service is cultural not positional, and everyone in the firm, from the front line to back office, shares responsibility for delivering an excellent client experience.”
In addition to qualitative attributes, the VBP report also provides eight quantitative metrics to help readers define a high-performance advice firm and benchmark their own performance.
These factors include EBIT margins of circa 35-40 per cent, high employee and client advocacy, revenue of around $1 million per annum per licensed adviser, and an employee cost ratio of 45 per cent or less.