The power of a vision: Because your future has to start somewhere.

From

Vision is the thing that initially drives all progress.  Somebody’s view of how something can be…will be….is the catalyst for achievement of great change. Who will ever forget  the power of one man’s vision: “I have a dream….”? His vision of how the world could be. Should be. Would be. One day. But what was

continue reading
14 May 2021

0 comments

The financial advice profession: Are we there yet?

From

The incessant debate about whether financial advice can be called a profession or whether it is an “industry” keeps rolling along and mostly the debate is within the industry. Those who are not financial advisers don’t debate it because the answer is fairly clear to them I am guessing….after all; if it isn’t a question

continue reading
29 Apr 2021

0 comments

Sweat the small stuff: it is what we CAN control!

From

I keep hearing “don’t sweat the small stuff” and every single time I hear someone say it I think of work, and what we do, and automatically think “if we don’t sweat the small stuff we are doing an awful job”. The small stuff is the very stuff that financial advisers need to sweat. It

continue reading
26 Mar 2021

0 comments

High net worth clients: The three strategic issues you HAVE to get to grips with

From

The nirvana for most professionals is to work only with high net worth clients.  The challenge in doing so is that the affluent are inevitably becoming more difficult to get in front of personally. As with the famous line from Jurassic Park – “life will find a way” – so too does technology find a way to

continue reading
17 Mar 2021

0 comments

To be a recognised expert you must be willing to be a target

From

If you become a recognised expert then business will find its way to you. Prospecting per se ceases to be a problem. Getting to be that recognised expert can be a costless and effective way of marketing yourself as industry, local or national media is constantly looking for opinion-shapers and insight.  But even when professionals

continue reading
02 Mar 2021

0 comments

How can an adviser be confident their advice is good before trouble starts?  In other words, how do you audit yourself?

From

There are 5 key things that the adviser must do – and be able to evidence afterwards – to show that they have worked for the benefit of the client, and not acted out of self-interest.  To demonstrate that you must essentially show that you know your client well enough to have delivered relevant advice. Knowing your client (as

continue reading
28 Jan 2021

0 comments

Change is the new normal for financial advisers

From

Financial Advice is not going through some changes; constant change is the new normal.  Whatever regulatory stuff you are going through now in your particular jurisdiction will not be an end to it.  It will be ongoing.  More importantly though, regulatory change is not the BIG change which will become the constant challenge. Engaging consumers and turning

continue reading
08 Dec 2020

0 comments

Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?

From

Old folk don’t take on new technology and new ideas, right? You just can’t teach them. Or is that “us”? Well that theory is getting blown away in a pandemic-like-way… There has been a continuous lament for years about the ageing of the financial advisory business and it is certainly true when you look back

continue reading
27 Nov 2020

0 comments

Maybe this is an opportunity: Picking a good financial adviser is harder than ever for consumers

From

Choosing a good financial adviser has always been a bit of a leap of faith for consumers I guess, but picking one today is harder than ever. With the tendency to use search to screen possible contenders, and with most contenders having to use the same acronyms and titles and so on, it is difficult

continue reading
29 Oct 2020

0 comments

How to balance client time with practice development

From

A genuine challenge for advice firms right now is balancing client time as well as do all the work necessary to lift standards and improve business systems.  There are after all only so many hours in a day, but then there are deadlines for when new standards and rules have to be met if one

continue reading
08 Sep 2020

0 comments