Jenny Brown

I’d love to see you and welcome you to fascinating Canberra, our nation’s capital for the AFA 2016 National Adviser Conference, the jewel in the crown for the AFA – October 5-7, 2016.

As a practising adviser, this Conference is always the highlight of my year and I look forward to it as a chance to hear, watch and learn from the best, as well as to catch up with colleagues and friends.

This year’s conference is about ‘Adaptive Change – taking advice beyond the horizon’ and as advisers we need to accept the challenge to think differently, to evolve and to be better prepared for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

The AFA has been working tirelessly to be more effective in delivering value for members by improving the positioning and relevance of our association, the results of which will be on show at the conference – whether it has been raising adviser professionalism, stronger relationships and influence with Government, an industry-leading professional education pathway, or the building of a voice to consumers through Your Best Interests – the AFA has laid a strong platform for the future.

As preparations for the 2016 AFA National Adviser Conference approach the final stages, we are absolutely thrilled to be able to bring some amazing keynote speakers to the stage including;

• The Hon John Howard OA AC – Political Leadership
• Dr Ric Charlesworth – High-Performance Leadership
• Dr Adam Fraser – Peak Performance Without the Collateral Damage
• Tony Bongiorno – MDRT Learnings from Around the World
• Dr Jason Mitchell – Academic Leadership
• Brian Freeman – Humanitarian Leadership
• Dr Jason Mitchell, Professor of Psychology Harvard University
• Graham Rich, PortfolioConstruction Forum
• Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist CFS Global Asset Management
• Joanne Earl, Associate Professor Flinders Business School
• David Reed, Adviser of the Year
• Paul Kearney, Practice of the Year
• Over 30 AFA Members sharing their best practice
• Brad Fox, Scott Moffit, Richard Klipin, Terry Rhodes, Dave Slovinec – Growing the demand for insurance

We have 3 amazing masterclasses from our communities of practice to explore more opportunities;

• Inspire with Margie Warrell
• Genxt with Dr Ric Charlesworth
• Leaders Forum – The AFA community of ideas and sharing

These world class speakers are augmented by a plethora of awesome advisers from our AFA community who are all willing to share the insights, skills and knowledge that they have applied to their own advice practices to ensure they are future proofed and ready to thrive as financial advice is taken beyond the horizon.

The conference committee has listened to members’ feedback and worked hard to build a program that blends exceptional technical knowledge with practical implementation based upon the AFA adviser learning pillars:

• Business Performance
• Adviser Performance
• Advice Strategies
• Professionalism and Learning

Our goal is to provide you with inspiration and load you up with the best ideas, strategies and the tools to implement those ideas to ensure that you can deliver exceptional service for your clients, helping them understand your advice strategies and how you can work with them to build and lead better lives. After all, everything we do is to put our clients and their families into a better situation, to be their trusted adviser.

Also, back by popular demand are our ‘Meet the Professionals’ and ‘Meet the Innovators’ round-table discussions.

With more advisers than ever now choosing to belong to the AFA, we are proud that there is more adviser input to this year’s conference agenda. Hearing from our peers we have always found to be incredibly worthwhile, and remembering that the smartest person in the room may not be the person on stage, it could be the person sitting next to you, or at lunch, or at the dinner function, you will hear a multitude of stories or how advisers solve our client’s problems, how they refine their skills, and we can even learn from their mistakes. Advisers have a unique perspective on the operation of the financial advice profession and all of this knowledge and ongoing learning can be captured and shared for the benefit of all.

So my question to you is, “What is holding you back from taking the next step forward in how you provide advice, how you improve your client experience and client outcomes, and your own profitability?” My bet is the answers can be found at the AFA National Adviser Conference.

But have you booked yet? The answers won’t come to you; you need to come to Conference to get them. In the absence of taking action, nothing will change, so click on to www.afaconference.com.au and register.

Whether you are a new adviser, a practice owner or an employed adviser, this will be a conference to help equip you to serve your client’s needs better, to prepare you for the opportunities ahead and help you take your financial advice beyond the horizon.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Canberra.

Jenny Brown, Conference Co-Chair

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Kylie George

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) formally recognized a number of outstanding members of the financial advice community at the 2015 AFA National Adviser Conference in Cairns last week.

In partnership with Zurich, the AFA bestowed the professions most significant individual honour – the AFA Adviser of the Year Award – on Sydney’s David Reed of The Retirement Advice Centre. Melbourne-based Kearney Group was awarded the prestigious AFA Practice of the Year Award.

The AFA Adviser of the Year Award pays tribute to advisers who demonstrate outstanding adviser performance, advice strategies, dedication to professional education and achieving informed client consent through building the financial literacy of their clients. The AFA’s Practice of the Year Award is awarded to a financial advice practice that has achieved outstanding levels of client satisfaction, business performance metrics, effective marketing, efficient operations and a proven contribution to the profession.

Mildura-based adviser Kylie George of Harvest Wealth became the 2015 AFA Rising Star. The AFA’s Rising Star Award, supported by ANZ Wealth recognizes emerging talent within the financial advice profession.

The AFA, partnered by TAL, also named Victorian NAB Financial Planning adviser Sharon Walker as the winner of the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award. This Award recognizes a female adviser with a passion and commitment to professionalism and quality advice, and who actively supports other women in financial services whilst also contributing to the betterment of financial literacy for women.

Charles Badenach received the AFA Excellence in Education Award, supported by Asteron Life, which recognizes an adviser’s commitment to ongoing professional education and self development.

Industry stalwart and Synchron Queensland state manager Gerry Porter was awarded the AFA’s Michael Murphy Award for his contribution to the advice community and the growth of the AFA. The Award is named in honour of AFA legend Michael Murphy who, after leading the resurrection of the AFA, lost his battle with cancer in 2012.

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David Reed

Now in its thirteenth year, the AFA Adviser of the Year (and more recently, the Practice of the Year) award is about recognising the best of the best. The award shines a light on those advisers and businesses that are leading the industry through their support for new and innovative ideas, their drive for customer-centricity and commitment to professional excellence.

This year the bar was raised even higher – and the judging process became even tougher – with each and every one of the grand finalists well and truly at the top of their game.

Ultimately, there could only be one winner in each category and, as a proud long-term partner of the AFA Adviser of the Year and Practice of the Year award, Zurich was pleased to announce David Reed and the team from the Kearney Group as the award’s outstanding recipients for 2015.

You may be wondering, in such a tight race, what were their formulas for success? According to Zurich’s judges, Head of Distribution, Kristine Brooks and Head of Sales Research and Strategy, Andy Marshall, the core component of education, experience and contribution were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to this year’s rigorous judging process.

The panel also looked closely at advisers’ use of technology and innovative processes (from initial client contact and throughout the advice relationship), the quality of client engagement materials and techniques, as well as their segmentation philosophies and client feedback processes.

However, as Andy Marshall explains, “A homogenous business structure was not something we were looking for, or even particularly wanted to see, throughout the Adviser and Practice of the Year judging process. In fact, the moment I ever feel like the business model of advisers has moved to a ‘Do you want fries with that?’ conformity, I will certainly hand over my judge’s clipboard.”

“Ultimately, advisers need to remember that the Adviser and Practice of the Year award is not just about rewarding greatness – it’s also about celebrating diversity.”

Head of Distribution, Kristine Brooks agrees, saying “The underlying elements within each of this year’s finalist’s business were all unique in their own way, however for advisers aspiring to follow in the footsteps of David Reed and the team at the Kearney Group and potentially take out the AFA Adviser or Practice of the Year award in 2016, there were four simple areas that this year’s winners not only shared, but made a primary focus within their businesses.”

1. Vision

Having a defined vision is a way of articulating your business’s goals, ambitions, beliefs and values – not just for yourself but also for your clients. An example of a defined vision from one of this year’s winners provides “…individually tailored client-centred care that enriches the business ventures and personal lives of our clients by appropriately positioning and protecting what they have today, planning for what they want in their future and preparing the path by which they’ll reach their goals.”

In one statement they have defined what they do for clients and how they do it well. This is so important because, without a defined vision, it’s difficult to align your business goals with your clients’ life goals. Articulating your direction and convictions in a clear vision establishes a fixed point to aim towards – especially in more challenging times. Think of your vision as a “beacon” that guides you and your business forward.

2. Customers

By understanding who their customers are, Australia’s leading advisers and advice businesses set in place the foundation stones for client loyalty. Having this level of understanding of what makes a client tick is no accident. It is delivered by advisers through regular, meticulous questioning of clients that goes well beyond the standard fact find.

Examples from the 2015 AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year award winners include:

• Providing value-adds to enhance the client journey. This could be an iPad mini as a gift to a client at the 90-day post-implementation meeting, or a compendium to help get clients organised.
• Making a client feel at home. This includes all staff knowing the client’s name and back story, having images and other client stories that are relatable so the client can picture themselves in a similarly successful situation, and using new technologies such as live chat, skype, client portals to make the process as easy as possible for their client.
• Creating ‘fan bases’ on social media such as Facebook groups, to strengthen their brand as well as provide their clients with an additional layer of trust and assurance that comes from being ‘peer-reviewed’.
• Creating opportunities for clients to share and learn from each other. This may be at community events or learning seminars.

3. Process

Mandatory processes around internal workflows are par for the course but a measured and well-designed client-engagement process drives satisfaction, which in turn drives loyalty and advocacy.

Considerable time and effort has been put in by this year’s winning advisers to create effective processes around how they will deliver client-engagement and develop their advice strategy. For example, each client has been allocated a scorecard, individual diagnostics, benchmarks, ‘what if’ scenarios, and transparent rules of engagement (portfolio decisions on top-ups, documented redraws, defined sum insured levels).

The key ingredient is that any process is developed by putting customer understanding and efficiency in delivering customer-focused advice outcomes at the heart of everything they do.

A scorecard for a client that was developed by one of this year’s finalists on aspects of wealth included everything from income needed, legacy wishes, recreational reserves, to satisfaction with life. What this shows is that the adviser recognises the relationship goes far beyond money, and in doing so, can guide a client into a wealth of different (and often deeper) conversations about their approach to retirement. Without this process, the “how” of a client’s feelings can be neglected and ultimately lead to poor financial decisions.

4. Learning

Education and self-improvement is very much front and centre for advisers, especially in the wake of the recent debate about adviser training standards. That’s why our winning advisers have also created scorecards for their advisers and staff.

While this method varies from adviser to adviser and practice to practice, the common denominator was that they all this year’s finalists (including the winners) have adviser and staff development plans in place and they are diligently enacted. This method not only puts the quality and consistency of staff education front and centre, it also helps practice owners recognise their own value and their impact on the business as a whole.

Development plans for the 2015 AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year were all designed with the defined vision of their business in mind – a vision which was in turn, designed with the customer in mind. Quite simply, the development plans were all about delivering better client experiences and deeper client engagement.

For the everyday adviser, this could be achieved through technical expertise development, systems training, client psychology courses, social media training, public speaking opportunities, or even coffee making (because there’s no point having a coffee machine in the office if no one can use it). In fact, one practice finalist delivered barista training to all staff – no chance of a bad coffee in this business!

These are all simple, practical focus areas any advice business can enact to take their business from zero to hero. They each deliver satisfaction, trust, loyalty and advocacy, with net promoter scores above 80 and adviser trust scores in the 90s. How do we know? We’ve measured it!

Since 2012, Zurich has also produced four whitepapers in conjunction with the AFA and the Beddoes Institute. Our first whitepaper, Pathways to Excellence highlights how Australia’s leading advisers are building successful and sustainable businesses, the second, The Trusted Adviser explores how they are building long lasting and trusted relationships with their clients, and more recently our Connecting with Clients and Connected Convenience whitepapers dig deep into the client service proposition, looking at different communication needs across generations – including some surprising insights on social media and mobile device usage.

The range of whitepapers are a must-read for advisers serious about building an award-winning business, and are available exclusively from Zurich on 1800 252 650.

Important Information: The content of this publication are the opinions of the writer and is intended as general information only which does not take into account the personal investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any person. It is dated October 2015, is given in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be accurate as at this date, which may be subject to change. It should not be considered to be a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied on as such. Neither Zurich Australia Limited ABN 92 000 010 195 AFSL 232510, nor Zurich Investment Management Limited ABN 56 063 278 400 AFSL 232511 of 5 Blue Street North Sydney NSW 2060, nor any of its related entities, employees or directors (Zurich) give any warranty of reliability or accuracy nor accept any responsibility arising in any way including by reason of negligence for errors and omissions. Zurich recommends investors seek advice from appropriately qualified financial advisers. Zurich and its related entities receive remuneration such as fees, charges and premiums for the financial products which they issue. Details of these payments can be found in the relevant fund Product Disclosure Statement. No part of this document may be reproduced without prior written permission from Zurich. CLYH-010705-2015

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