Nick Eatock

intelliflo, the global cloud-based technology solution for financial advisers, has today released Advice, evolved: A new era in Australian financial advice, a whitepaper detailing the major themes that will characterise the next five years of advice.  

With only one-in-10 Australians currently advised, and most people unwilling to pay the cost for full financial advice, there is a critical issue facing Australia: how to get more people the advice they need, when they need it, at a price point they can afford. 

The whitepaper is the product of a dynamic roundtable in Sydney late last year, featuring seven esteemed participants representing technological innovation, policy, advice and consulting: intelliflo CEO Nick Eatock, Adviser Ratings founder Angus Woods, financial services policy expert Keddie Waller, Product Rex founder Nick Topham, Finura Group managing director Peter Worn, ensombl CEO Clayton Daniels, and The Financial Adviser Scale Squad founder Adele Martin.

The aim of the roundtable was to move beyond the much discussed topics of compliance burdens and low adviser numbers, and instead visualise how the financial advice sector will need to articulate its value and purpose to a growing pool of potential clients as an intergenerational transfer of wealth gathers pace.

Nick Eatock, CEO and co-founder of intelliflo, said the whitepaper examines how the advice profession will move to become more customer-centric in the coming years, thanks to new technology, changing demands, and demographic shifts.

“Australia’s advice profession is at a crossroads. On one hand, technology is reshaping the delivery of advice, streamlining processes, and enabling a more scalable approach. On the other, the human connection –the very essence of our value proposition – remains irreplaceable,” he said.

“With that in mind, the future involves technology complimenting human advice delivery, so that advisers can reach more customers, while saving on time and costs. Clients, meanwhile, will receive a richer experience, with technological tools to keep them engaged over the longer term.

“Over the next five years, we expect the advice profession to reach many more Australians, as advisers embrace new technology, and customers navigate intergenerational wealth transfer.”

The whitepaper identified seven key themes for advisers and financial advice practices to consider:

• Changing the perception of advice: Working collectively as a profession to create universal understanding about how advice can add value and finding ways to continually improve the client experience.
• Adopting consumer-friendly payment models: Meeting evolving consumer expectations by embracing new methods of payment, including trials and a PayPal-style model.  
• Technology as the foundation: Incorporating technology to slash costs, give clients flexibility and future-proof advice businesses.  
• The next frontier: An adviser-led system: Creating an adviser and client-first model, which proactively advocates for clients’ best interests through self-regulation and product design.  
• Reaching more Australians through scale: Using super funds and M&A activity to ensure millions more have access to advice.  
• Building a whole-of-life pathway: Reaching consumers at critical life stages to ensure they are prepared for the future with quality advice. 
• Engaging young people: Preparing for the biggest intergenerational wealth transfer in history by ensuring young people can engage with advice in a way they choose to.  

For advisers, each chapter of the whitepaper features a series of action items to meet the emerging needs of the next generation, including using AI to further personalise the client experience, building professional profiles in innovative ways, creating free financial education content to drive prospects, and employing technology to engage clients with portals and customised alerts.

Read the whitepaper.

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The 2023 ReCALIbrate recipients are:

• Kirsten Genter, Zurich Assure
• Asha Burrows, Platinum Partners
• Azaria Bell, Skye Wealth
• Trish Gregory CFP^R, Fox and Hare Financial Advice
• Adele Martin, Adele Martin – Money Mentor

“CALI is committed to supporting a vibrant and sustainable industry and address the decreasing number of financial advisers in Australia. ReCALIbrate aims to promote more diversity among financial advisers so that consumers receive appropriate advice that is relevant to them. CALI is pleased to provide these grants to five deserving and inspirational women. We are confident that the ReCALIbrate recipients will find the FAAA Congress engaging and informative and will leverage their knowledge for the benefit of their clients and team members,” said Christine Cupitt, Chief Executive Officer at CALI.

“Through research conducted by CALI on behalf of our members, it is clear that women have unique advice needs and having a financial adviser that understands their circumstances and needs is crucial to effective and impactful advice,” said Ms. Cupitt.

CALI Board Member and Managing Director of Clearview Wealth Limited, Nadine Gooderick, said “Risk specialists have an important role in the life insurance ecosystem, so it is important that we foster the next generation of talent. This will ensure that consumers understand their life insurance needs, secure adequate cover and, at claim time, get benefits paid. Women have historically been under-represented in our industry and at industry conferences more broadly, which are important events for education, network and inspiration.”

“With a shared desire to encourage engagement among female financial risk advisers and foster the next generation of female talent, we are pleased to support CALI’s ReCALIbrate program. We look forward to welcoming the ReCALIbrate recipients to the FAAA Congress in November,” said Sarah Abood, Chief Executive Officer at the Financial Advice Association Australia.

To ensure women continue to engage with the industry and benefit beyond the event, each ReCALIbrate recipient will be paired with a senior female life insurance industry leader and have the opportunity to have two in-person or virtual meetings. The purpose of these meetings will be to provide a forum for mentorship, learning, support and advice.

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Andrew Alcock

Collaborative action to drive transformation must be taken to enable financial advice to be more cost-effective and accessible, not only to help more Australians meet their individual financial goals but also provide broader benefits for the community as a whole.

In a documentary created by HUB24 and XY Adviser, industry leaders and advisers have called for affirmative action to ensure more Australians can access professional financial advice.

According to HUB24’s CEO, Andrew Alcock, the advice profession and industry providers have an obligation to work together to ensure financial advice is accessible for more Australians.

“Currently, we have a situation where a small percentage of Australians seek holistic advice from a regulated financial adviser, and it’s becoming harder and more expensive to access that service. In effect, we are creating a have and have-not situation.”

The documentary features industry leaders and advisers including Financial Services Council CEO Blake Briggs, AZ NGA CEO Paul Barrett, Investment Trends CEO Sarah Brennan, Money Mentor’s Adele Martin and Caboodle Financial Services Principal Peita Diamantidis.

Participants identified cost and the decreasing number of financial advisers as significant challenges for Australians in getting advice – factors which have been exacerbated by the complex regulatory environment and historical lack of investment in developing innovative technology solutions.

According to Mr Barrett, advisers and clients are bearing the brunt of complex regulatory obligations. “If you put yourself in the shoes of an adviser today, and the things they have to do before they can have a meaningful discussion about their client’s scenario and start helping them, there’s too much of a regulatory burden.”

The documentary participants collectively agreed both advisers and consumers will pay the price if we are not able to overcome these challenges as Australians will be more reliant on the government for financial support and unable to navigate the complexity of their finances.

“Without good financial advice, Australians miss out on the opportunity to plan for tomorrow, to have peace of mind, financial security and financial freedom,” said Mr Alcock.  “We really need to consider, with the complexity of the environment we are in and all of the regulations and compliance, are we actually preparing Australians for the future?”

The documentary also features comments by CoreData Global CEO Andrew Inwood, My Millennial Money podcast creator Glen James, FPA CEO Sarah Abood, AFR Wealth Editor Aleks Vickovich and Diverger General Manager of Operations and Technology, Sonya Choi La Rosa.  It highlights how financial education, reduced regulatory complexity and investment in developing integrated technology solutions for licensees and advisers can play a role in enabling the delivery of cost-effective financial advice.

“There is an amazing opportunity to build the foundations of the future, and leverage data and technology to reduce friction for licensees, advisers and customers to empower better financial futures for more Australians,” said Mr Alcock.

Participants agreed the way forward was to work together and alongside government and regulators, to break down existing barriers to advice and build a sustainable advice profession which will enable more Australians to benefit from financial advice.

Watch the documentary. 

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