Pathways to Excellence reveals insights from 18 leading advisory practices participating in the Beddoes Institute’s Leading Practices Program and 960 client experience surveys to discover what consumers value most in their adviser relationships and how the industry’s best practices are meeting their clients’ needs.

AFA CEO Richard Klipin said that over the past 10 years the AFA has, via the AFA Adviser of the Year Award (the Award), seen outstanding submissions from leading advisers and practices within the industry, representing thousands of clients and client experiences.

“The Award, which Zurich has supported since inception, is about shining a light on advisers who are driving the quality of the profession,” he said. “After doing so for a decade, the time is right to share the DNA of the best advisory practices in Australia and use these learnings to build a stronger, more robust profession.”

The Beddoes Institute’s Dr Rebecca Sheils said the Leading Practices Program produced research that revealed societal issues such as media perception, trust, and concerns about adviser educational qualifications were washed away when consumers actually sat down with a financial adviser.

“Clients’ perceptions of what a financial adviser is and what an adviser can do for them was completely recalibrated once they met with one,” she said. “This was reflected in a high referral rate, higher than any other industry we have looked at, and high levels of satisfaction with advisers as clients then continued to journey with their advisers for several years.”

The research provides the industry with a blueprint for advisers to follow in order to become a leading financial advice practice. This blueprint indicates that the industry needs to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to:

1.Enhancing the qualities and attributes of advisers
2.Enhancing the client experience during the advice process with new clients
3.Optimising the service proposition
4.Providing transparency and visibility around fees

“Practices that follow the blueprint have enormous success with their clients, which translates into positive business outcomes for their practices,” Mr Klipin said.

Marc Fabris, Zurich Financial Services (Zurich) National Manager, Sales Strategies and Research – Life Risk, said Zurich is delighted to have been involved with the AFA Financial Adviser of the Year Award since inception 10 years ago.

“It is the Award which ultimately led to the research,” he said. “In 10 years, we’ve seen the Awarditself grow and we have seen advisers and their practices grow. The Award methodology and processes have also grown stronger every year. We’ve seen the introduction of greater benchmarking and client surveying and the involvement of the Beddoes Institute has been a great addition to that process.”

To read the report, click here.

The post AFA launches Pathways to Excellence white paper appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Pathways to Excellence reveals insights from 18 leading advisory practices participating in the Beddoes Institute’s Leading Practices Program and 960 client experience surveys to discover what consumers value most in their adviser relationships and how the industry’s best practices are meeting their clients’ needs.

AFA CEO Richard Klipin said that over the past 10 years the AFA has, via the AFA Adviser of the Year Award (the Award), seen outstanding submissions from leading advisers and practices within the industry, representing thousands of clients and client experiences.

“The Award, which Zurich has supported since inception, is about shining a light on advisers who are driving the quality of the profession,” he said. “After doing so for a decade, the time is right to share the DNA of the best advisory practices in Australia and use these learnings to build a stronger, more robust profession.”

The Beddoes Institute’s Dr Rebecca Sheils said the Leading Practices Program produced research that revealed societal issues such as media perception, trust, and concerns about adviser educational qualifications were washed away when consumers actually sat down with a financial adviser.

“Clients’ perceptions of what a financial adviser is and what an adviser can do for them was completely recalibrated once they met with one,” she said.  “This was reflected in a high referral rate, higher than any other industry we have looked at, and high levels of satisfaction with advisers as clients then continued to journey with their advisers for several years.”

The research provides the industry with a blueprint for advisers to follow in order to become a leading financial advice practice. This blueprint indicates that the industry needs to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to:

1. Enhancing the qualities and attributes of advisers
2. Enhancing the client experience during the advice process with new clients
3. Optimising the service proposition
4. Providing transparency and visibility around fees

“Practices that follow the blueprint have enormous success with their clients, which translates into positive business outcomes for their practices,” Mr Klipin said.

Marc Fabris, Zurich Financial Services (Zurich) National Manager, Sales Strategies and Research – Life Risk, said Zurich is delighted to have been involved with the AFA Financial Adviser of the Year Award since inception 10 years ago.

“It is the Award which ultimately led to the research,” he said. “In 10 years, we’ve seen the Award itself grow and we have seen advisers and their practices grow. The Award methodology and processes have also grown stronger every year. We’ve seen the introduction of greater benchmarking and client surveying and the involvement of the Beddoes Institute has been a great addition to that process.”

To read the research report, click here.

The post AFA on pathway to excellence to discover what consumers want appeared first on AdviserVoice.