Anne Graham

Integrated Financial Advice firm Kearney Group, is thrilled to announce that AnneGraham, one of Australia’s foremost financial advisers, has joined the firm and will commence services from Kearney Group’s Fitzroy premises on 9 September 2024.

Anne is an award-winning Certified Financial Planner® (CFP) with over 30 years of professional experience. Her distinguished career in financial planning is built on strong academic and professional foundations that include accreditation as a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), and a Masters in Applied Finance.

Her outstanding service to clients has earned her numerous accolades and prestigious positions on boards and committees, including Securitor Financial Group’s National Advisory Council, Deakin University Department of Accounting Advisory Board, and the Future2 Foundation Board. Anne is also the co-founder and past CEO of Story Wealth.

Reflecting on her new role, Anne Graham stated: “I’m thrilled to join Kearney Group and refocus on what I love most, in the next phase of my career– delivering exceptional financial advice and mentoring the next generation of advisers. This move allows me to concentrate on my clients without the demands of running a business.” Anne says her clients can expect a seamless transition and continued excellence in service as she begins this new chapter with Kearney Group.

“To my long-standing clients, thank you for your unwavering support over the years. I am confident this transition will only enhance your advice experience, with access to Financial Planning, Accounting, Tax, Business Advisory, Bookkeeping, Lending, and Insurance, all under one roof through Kearney Group’s Integrated Advice model.”

Paul Kearney, Founder and CEO of Kearney Group, expressed his enthusiasm: “We are delighted to welcome Anne Graham to Kearney Group. Anne and I have known each other and collaborated closely for over 15 years. I have always admired her dedication, expertise and the high regard in which she’s held within our professional community. This new partnership brings together some of the finest practitioners in the country and I cannot wait to see what we create together.”

Anne’s approach to financial planning is centred around the three pillars of collaboration, education and clarity; a philosophy that aligns seamlessly with Kearney Group’s Integrated Advice Team model. Her appointment to Kearney Group underscores the firm’s commitment to offering top-tier financial advice, provided by the nation’s best advisers.

The post Kearney Group welcomes renowned Financial Adviser, Anne Graham appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The IMAP Managed Account Awards recognise excellent practice, by both advice firms and investment managers.

The Institute of Managed Account Professions (IMAP) says the Awards are “important for both clients and those working in the industry as the best service providers have proven processes, are well resourced, and have a clear investment philosophy with solid track records.”

The ethos behind Ethos Portfolios

“At Kearney Group, we’ve long believed that good investment is responsible investment,” says CEO, Paul Kearney. “Short-term gains that come at the expense of our community and planet, aren’t really ‘good returns’.”

He explains that Ethos Managed Portfolios are designed to explicitly consider environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) factors in fund manager selection and investment decision-making processes.

Paul stressed that “ESG factors are considered, not only because they’re ‘nice to have’ but because they’re strong indicators of high performance and long term value.” This is a view supported by research from the RIAA which confirms that “responsible investment funds outperform mainstream funds over most time frames and asset classes.” ^[1]

Quality finalists, expert panel

“IMAP have been industry and thought leaders in the Managed Accounts space for many years,” says Kearney Group COO, Matt Englund. The IMAP Managed Account Awards are judged by an expert panel of investment professionals.

The panelists boast “experience on investment committees, in running managed account and fund portfolios, and through their hands on involvement in the development of managed account portfolios,” says IMAP.

“To be considered by such an eminent panel for the inaugural ESG award is a credit to the team here at Kearney Group and our partners at Zenith,” Matt concludes. Winners announced in August. Award winners will be announced at the annual IMAP Awards Ceremony on August 24 in Sydney, Australia.

——–

[1] Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

The post Kearney Group named ESG Portfolio finalist for 2022 IMAP Awards appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Tyson Yunkaporta

Scholar and author of Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta, gets the green light to develop an Indigenous Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Deakin University, with seed funding from a leading financial services firm.

Paul Kearney, the founder and CEO of Melbourne-based financial services firm, Kearney Group, has provided seed funding to catalyse the development of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University’s NIKERI Institute (National Indigenous Knowledges Education and Research Institute).

Development of the IK Systems Lab is being driven by Tyson Yunkaporta, in collaboration with leading thinkers and innovators from across Deakin and the wider community. Yunkaporta is an Indigenous scholar and author of the book “Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking can Save the World”, which describes the potential applications of Indigenous Knowledges and the process towards resolving some of our world’s most complex crises. Released in late 2019, “Sand Talk” is deeply resonating with international audiences and its concepts are already being applied in a wide range of settings, from climate science to artificial intelligence.

Building on the success of “Sand Talk”, the IK Systems Lab aims to attract and support a team of Indigenous researchers, Knowledge Keepers and doctoral candidates whose ambition is to weave First People’s thinking, policy and innovations into solutions for some of the most pressing issues of our time.

“For example, in addressing climate change, should we think beyond limiting emissions and address the biological feedback loops that will continue to escalate global warming even at zero carbon output? Indigenous Knowledge Systems that understand the complexities of these loops may be most effective at proposing the right interventions to disrupt them,” Yunkporta writes.

“Or could we gain an understanding of systems interdependencies – such as fish die-offs in the Murray-Darling Basin leading to bushfires on Kangaroo Island,” he adds.

The IK Systems Lab will be “a place where Indigenous thinking can be applied to the issues that complexity scientists and technologists are currently working on across economics, design, cybernetics, governance, evolutionary dynamics, environment, cognition and consciousness,” Yunkaporta tells us.

IK Systems Lab to tackle complex problems, create opportunities.
“This work is both extremely important and urgent,” says Paul Kearney whose philanthropic support has helped kick-start the Lab’s development. “In a world overflowing with seemingly intractable problems, Tyson Yunkaporta’s ‘Sand Talk’ and the Indigenous Knowledges he describes gives hope; maybe, just maybe, this thinking and perspective can be a critical circuit-breaker and help interrupt the trajectory on which we humans find ourselves.”

In addition to addressing complex problems and existential threats to humanity, the IK Systems Lab also aims to create opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for research, employment, meaningful public platforms, community recognition and to directly benefit from the commercial applications that could arise from their intellectual property developed within the Lab.

“We hope that the establishment of the IK Systems Lab at Deakin becomes a spark,” says Kearney, “a catalyst for connection and the collision of ideas; a hothouse of wisdom and transformational thinking that allows us to tackle the many urgent and interconnected challenges that lay before us now. We are grateful to be able to play our part in its creation, and wish Tyson and his colleagues all the best for their journey ahead.”

The post Kearney Group provides start-up funding for Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Paul Kearney

Kearney Group is pleased to officially announce the arrival of Ethos Managed Portfolios – a suite of responsible investment options suited to socially conscious and sustainability-minded investors.

“At Kearney Group, we’ve long believed that good investment is responsible investment,” says CEO, Paul Kearney. “Short-term gains that come at the expense of our community and planet, aren’t really ‘good returns’.”

Ethos, Paul explains, is the outcome of an 18 month redesign and complete reimagination of the firm’s investment management service, including its historically high-performing Kearney Financial Planning Portfolios.

“We’ve deliberately designed a new suite of portfolios that explicitly and systematically consider environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) factors in our fund manager selection and investment decision-making process,” Paul explains.

He also stresses that ESG factors are considered, not only because they’re ‘nice to have’ but because they’re strong indicators of high performance and long term value – a view supported by recent research from the RIAA which confirms that “responsible investment funds outperform mainstream funds over most time frames and asset classes.”*

In a recent Q&A on all things ESG, Paul takes things one step further with the assertion that considering ESG performance is every financial adviser’s moral obligation to their clients.

In a profession that has been rocked by the recent Royal Commission, and claims of adviser misconduct and failures of duty, Paul is sounding a rallying cry for like-minded professionals to demand more of their portfolio offerings and the funds management industry they rely upon.

“We know ESG has direct financial relevance and is a good indicator of long term value. So failing to consider ESG is failing our clients, our profession and our community. Who are we, if we’re giving advice that encourages extraction or over abundance now, at the expense of our ability to live well into tomorrow? What good is saving for retirement if when you get there, you can’t breathe the air or drink the water, or the society you retire to deteriorates? These aren’t a far-off dystopian fantasy. These are critical questions we need to be asking now,” Paul asserts.

Kearney Group no stranger to ethical investing

Kearney Group is no stranger to ethical and socially responsible investing (SRI). It’s avoided fossil fuels, gambling and live animal food production in its managed fund portfolios for some years and has never actively invested in alcohol, tobacco, weapons or munitions.

With the launch of Ethos Managed Portfolios, the Group has formalised and enshrined their commitment to the environment and social cohesion, and have woven these views into the very fabric of their new service offering.

When reimagining our portfolio service, “we looked at current regulation and what might be expected in the years ahead,” says Paul. “Perhaps most notably, we looked at feedback from our clients and the Australian public. We know the vast majority of us want to know our money is doing good, not just raking in big returns at all costs. People are voting with their feet – and they should. The market is lagging and failing to serve its constituents. Ethos is really our attempt to progress the conversation here in Australia, and drive demand for ESG funds.”

Backed by rigour, research and responsibility

Ethos Managed Portfolios are overseen by the newly expanded Ethos Investment Committee, which monitors market conditions and portfolio performance, undertakes investment research and analysis, and manages changes to the suite of Portfolios, as required.

The Committee is currently chaired by David Wright, founder and CEO of Australia’s second largest research house, Zenith Investment Partners.

The mandate of the Ethos Investment Committee is to:

• Provide data-driven, long-term focused and thematically aware ESG portfolios that get competitive results whilst contributing to a more sustainable future.
• Partner with high-performing investment managers who take a leading approach to ESG.
• Provide agile and actively-managed portfolios that are well diversified to manage downside risk.
• Cater to investors with varying risk tolerances and investment time horizons – with options for a High Growth, Growth, Balanced,
• Conservative or Defensive Portfolios.

The post Kearney Group launches Ethos suite of responsible ESG investment portfolios appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Paul Kearney

Kearney Group CEO, Paul Kearney, is joining well-known business and government leaders in hitting the streets to sell The Big Issue magazine from 6-10 February.

Paul will be joining vendor, Jeff, at Parliament Station on 9 February at 8:30am to sell magazines as part of The Big Issue’s CEO Selling campaign, celebrating International Vendor Week.

“I’m very excited to be working with Jeff and participating in International Vendor Week,” said Kearney. “The Big Issue is an incredibly important part of Australia’s social fabric and I hope I’ll see some familiar faces stopping by to pick up a magazine from us.”

International Vendor Week shines a spotlight on homeless and disadvantaged vendors, like Jeff, who are working hard to improve their lives.

Vendors buy copies of The Big Issue for $3.50 and sell them for $7, earning a meaningful income.

More than 100 business and government leaders across Australia will show their support by donning The Big Issue fluoro vest and selling copies of the magazine alongside vendors.

The initiative is part of International Vendor Week, which recognises the work of 10,000 people selling street papers around the world.

The week is run by the International Network of Street Papers, which supports 110 street publications in 35 countries.

The Big Issue hopes to boost sales to put $100,000 into vendors’ pockets for the edition coinciding with International Vendor Week.

You can get behind the initiative by buying a copy of the magazine from Paul and his mentor, Jeff:

• Time: 8:30 am
• Date: Thursday 9 February 2017
• Location: Parliament Station – Lonsdale Street entrance

The Big Issue CEO Steven Persson said: “Buying a copy of The Big Issue supports a vendor’s efforts to make positive changes in their life: it’s a hand up, not a hand out. We hope selling The Big Issue alongside prominent business and government leaders will help vendors forge new connections in their community and encourage the public to support their local vendor.”

Visit The Big Issue’s website for more on International Vendor Week and a list of sellers.

The post Business leaders hit the streets to sell ‘The Big Issue’ appeared first on AdviserVoice.

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

The post Are you ready to take your advice practice beyond the horizon? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Paul Kearney

The hunt is on again for the AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year. Now in its fourteenth year, we’re looking to raise the bar even higher, looking for those exceptional advisers whose innovative thinking, customer-centricity, leadership and commitment to higher purpose help take the professionalism of our industry to new heights.

So, as the world gets ready for Rio, it seemed fitting to speak directly to last year’s winning Adviser of the Year, David Reed and Practice of the Year owner, Paul Kearney, to find out exactly what it means to participate in what is becoming regarded as the ‘Olympics of advice’.

First of all, congratulations on your AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year award wins last year. The hunt is now on again for the 2016 finalists, so for any advisers thinking about nominating this year, what advice can you give about the benefits of taking part in the process?

David Reed: The most significant benefit was the process itself. From the beginning, our team was provided the opportunity to reflect upon what our business stood for, what we were doing well, and areas needing improvement.

Taking the time to assess each facet of the client experience, understanding through the Beddoes Institute survey (part of the judging process) how the client viewed our service offering, and then receiving direct feedback from the judging panel on how our results were benchmarked against other practices, were all exceptionally valuable insights we would not have otherwise had the opportunity to get.

Paul Kearney: The AFA Awards process is extremely rigorous and it has been an incredible experience; we’ve learned so much about our clients, our advisers and the way we do business. Whilst it was terrific to ultimately take home the award, the process itself was first-class and we got so much from the experience as a business.

It was clear that the judging panel actually wanted to look deeply at our practice and truly understand how it operates, from all angles – client service, internal process, culture/people management, business lines/structure, financials, risk and governance, our strategic advantage/CVP… the list goes on.

We really commend the AFA and Zurich for investing, both their time and money, in making these awards so rigorous and for creating value for those who go through the process. This investment, particularly in the last three phases of the awards process (the Client Experience Survey, site visits and the Finalist Showcase) was extremely powerful, and in our opinion, lends a great deal of credibility to the award.

Did you pick up any advice, tips or different ways of working from the other finalists during your time together?

DR: Yes, we all certainly had different client value propositions, and different business models. However the common denominator was that each adviser was focused upon continued learning and built their business in a client-centric structure.

PK: Absolutely. There’s always a lot to learn from others. I was particularly intrigued by the way David Reed thinks about the psychological aspect of retirement. He’s clearly thought very deeply about this and has a lot to offer.

One of the nicest surprises about this process was developing friendships and connections with a whole community of new people across the industry, including those at the AFA and Zurich, Adviser of the Year winner David Reed, and of course, with all our fellow finalists.

Will you make (or have you made) changes to your business as a result of the Award process?

DR: We have made incremental changes to the business during this process that resulted in more technology in our business, such as video recording of meetings.

The Client Experience Survey, held during the judging process, showed us that more education offerings were needed, so we have commenced a “Retirement Series” that we will incorporate in our yearly calendar. Ideally, we would like one day to use this education component as a benchmark for clients to attend prior to being accepted as a client. This will ensure that our clients understand clearly our value proposition and how we can assist their retirement aspirations.

Were there any benefits to your staff?

PK: From a business perspective, there’s no doubt that these awards have currency with employees – both current and prospective.  The team is really excited and proud to be recognised because they understand awards like these are truly a team effort.  They see their individual effort echoed in the AFA Practice of the Year award and that’s a very powerful thing.

From a personal perspective, the opportunity to attend the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) with one of the key members of our practice was incredible. Offering the study tour to SXSW as the prize was a really unique idea – the experience was far more valuable than any cash award.

Finally, from a recruitment perspective, awards like this also assist with brand recognition and credibility as an employer. It’s hard to quantify but anecdotally, such awards certainly play a part in attracting top talent.

How do you believe you can use your newfound role as an advocate for the advice profession for the benefit of other advisers?

DR: Since the awards last year, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic advisers across Australia.  There have been 40-year veterans of the profession that I’ve discussed client engagement techniques over a cold beer, to the mentoring of new, entrepreneurial advisers looking at how to build an advice business with an eye towards the future of technology.

I’ve also been fortunate to be in a position to promote the value of advice through a variety of broadcast mediums, including print and radio. Hopefully a consistent, clear message that encourages people to seek financial advice to better their future lifestyle will assist in boosting the profile of our profession.

PK: At Kearney Group, we’re deadly serious about advocacy. We’ve felt for some time, that for financial services to totally “professionalise”, it’s going to require the work of leading practices and leading practitioners.  We love that our role has morphed into one of advocacy for and within our Profession.

Ours is a profession that is built on trust and integrity. Many firms around Australia already live and breathe a client-centric approach to financial advice, their people deeply respect their fiduciary duty, they’re on the front lines and “Imagineering” the future of advice as we speak.

These next few years are going to be crucial. And, whilst we’ve got lots to learn, it’s enormously exciting to be able to help shape what our profession will look like into the future.

Can you describe the Award experience in 3 words?

DR: Exhaustive.  Informative.  Enriching.

PK: It’s hard to pick three, but our top two would be: Rigorous and Rewarding. And then we’d say:

• Best of Breed
• Relationship-focus
• Refreshing
• Elite (but not elitist)
• Exciting
• Insightful
• Thought-provoking
• Year-Defining (without doubt!)

———-

Prepared by Zurich Australia Limited ABN 92 000 010 195 AFSLN 232510. This article was originally published, 22 June 2016 and is of general nature and does not take into account any personal objectives, situations or needs. This information is a summary for financial advisers only and there are relevant exclusions and conditions that you should consider before making a decision or recommendation about the product. You should refer to the current Zurich Wealth Protection Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). CLYH-011495-2016

The post What does it mean to win the ‘Olympics of advice’? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Paul Kearney

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) is congratulating a number of its members for their success in recent highly competitive industry awards.

Queensland’s Mr Insurance has been awarded one of Millennium3’s 2015 Practice Awards for Outstanding Performance (two or fewer advisers) with managing director PJ Byrne also named as a state and national finalist for Millennium3’s 2015 Risk Adviser of the Year. Mr Insurance’s Declan Doolan was also named a state finalist for the Millennium3 2015 Rising Star Award.

“The Practice of the Year award means a lot to our team as we all work so hard to care for our clients, especially those whose claims we have managed,” Mr Byrne said. This award represents the pinnacle achievement for being one of the very best advisory practices and it is great to know Declan and myself are so highly regarded for our advice and doing what we love, which is helping people.”

The winners of last year’s AFA Practice of the Year Award, The Kearney Group, have also been recognised as the Securitor and BT Financial Group 2015 Practice of the Year for Victoria and Tasmania.

Kearney Group CEO Paul Kearney said that while there’s always room for improvement, the award lets the firm know that they’re heading in the right direction.

“It’s great to be recognised by our community, our licensee, and most importantly, by our clients. In a practice like ours, awards are truly a team effort. Without everyone rowing in the same direction across our five divisions, this just wouldn’t be possible. At Kearney Group, we don’t want to stay the same. If we want to lead this profession, we need to have an unwavering focus on investment and innovation,” he said.

Another highlight, AFA’s Queensland State Director, Dianne Charman from Jade Financial Group in Ipswich has been named the 2015 AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) Adviser of the Year.

Ms Charman said she was pleasantly surprised to win the AMPFP Adviser of the Year award, given the size of her practice and the high calibre of AMP financial advisers.

“In the world of AMP, our business is very small. Some advisers in the network have been around much longer than our six years and have amazing practices, so it was very exciting to win,” she said.

AFA CEO Brad Fox said he is delighted to see so many AFA members being recognised for their excellence in delivering great advice to more Australians. “AFA members are changing the lives of Australians every day and it’s terrific to see our members continuing to set the benchmark for both great advice and exceptional business performance.”

The post AFA members shine appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Paul Kearney

I have the great privilege of calling myself a financial adviser, and it’s a responsibility I take deadly seriously.

Ours is a Profession that is built on trust and integrity. And, like my many peers who live and breathe their fiduciary duty, I believe operating within an ethical framework is not only my moral responsibility but it’s essential to my firm’s (and more importantly, to our Profession’s) long-term viability.

From the GFC and Storm Financial, to the (infuriatingly frequent) fiascos within the banks and big institutions that continue to degrade all of our good work, we’ve seen, time and again, what happens when ethics take a backseat in the world of finance.

As a Profession, financial planning is only in its infancy. And, whilst we’ve got lots to learn, it’s enormously exciting that we are able to help shape what it will look like into the future.

It should go without saying but during these important formative years, we must fiercely protect our Profession. Reputation is hard fought and won – but we can win it. To do so, we have to prove that Advisers are not only doing amazing things for their clients, but as a Profession, we are taking a stand. Leading Advisers and leading practices need to join together and say there is unequivocally no room for cowboys in our Profession.

And then… then we must build robust processes, frameworks and industry guidelines that help us protect our Profession by embedding ethics and the client’s best interests into all aspects of our work.

It’s a continuous journey and we’ll never quite “there” but at Kearney Group, here are a few things we’re doing to get on the front foot.

Rigorous recruitment practices

Building a solid reputation across our Profession begins with how people join our ranks. We need to follow the lead of doctors and lawyers, and make becoming an adviser competitive and sought-after. And when we get to the point of recruitment and hiring decisions, we must be selective and demand rigorous processes sit behind all of our decisions.

• To even apply for a role, we demand high levels of education and training – since 2008 a Bachelor’s degree and CFP® accreditation have been our internal minimum standard for employment as a financial adviser in our practice.
• We carefully and deliberately recruit team members that will act in our clients’ and our practice’s best interests. The first stages of our interview process are entirely cultural and behavioural – we know we can teach technical skills, but we must demand from the outset that our people align with the ethical framework of our business.
• And, before we move to any appointment, we embark on rigorous reference checking, background screening and we obtain police clearances.

TIP:There are many third parties that will do AFP or CrimTrac checks on behalf of employers. Have a think about what you need – Do you need the original AFP Certificate? Do you want to do the administration or get your candidates to manage it themselves? How quickly do you need to get the results back and how many checks will you do per month? All of these things will influence who you might engage.

Policies and procedures

Call me an optimist, but I believe most people want to do the right thing in their work. If people don’t know what your organisation values and expects of them, however, how are they ever to deliver to those standards? Policies, procedures and a practice Code of Conduct are great was to ensure everyone is on the same page. They also provide really crucial mechanisms for dealing with deliberately deceitful or negligent behaviour.

• We maintain a suite of company policies covering topics like privacy, confidentiality, grievance management, professional independence and duty of care to clients.
• We also have internal Professional Standards and a Code of Conduct which clearly outline our expectations for ethical behaviour.
• Our team members are introduced to, and required to acknowledge/sign off on, procedures and policies to ensure ethical behaviour is understood and upheld.
• In addition to our internal standards, our CFP, CPA and CA qualified team members are also beholden to the professional standards laid out by their industry accreditors.

TIP: Writing up a suite of basic policies can be a huge job, but there are many HR and business support services available if you look around. Look for a service provider that can provide you with template policies and then put your time into customising them for your firm. Access to an HR or employment relations hotline is also very handy as you’ll want to ensure any customisation is in line with workplace legislation and the Fair Work Act.

Rethinking reward structures & traditional KPIs

Changes to remuneration, commissions and incentive structures in financial services are certainly on the move – however, there’s a long way to go yet. Here’s what we’re doing at Kearney Group:

• Our advisory teams are salaried employees and we offer market-competitive remuneration to our people. We’ve maintained a strict ‘no-bonus/kickbacks culture’ in our firm over the years and whilst that makes it tough at times to compete with the banks for talent, we believe the ethical bullets we dodge by removing such incentives are profound. How can we put our hand on our hearts and know our advice is independent as long as we’re receiving payment for giving that exact advice? The funny thing about ethics is perception is as important as reality. In our eyes, a perceived conflict of interest is as troubling and damaging to the profession as a true conflict.
• Our challenging KPIs and targets are set at a divisional level, not on individual levels. Whilst we each notionally have an idea of what we need to achieve in order for our team reach its overarching objectives, in the spirit of collaboration and teamwork, our primary focus is on the division’s collective success.
• Likewise, when targets are met, the entire division will be rewarded. We celebrate with team holidays, special events and experiential/non-monetary rewards in an effort to build strong colligate bonds, whilst simultaneously recognising outstanding performance.

TIP: Advertising your “no-bonus” culture when recruiting staff is a good way to get like-minded people in the door. It’s also a way to avoid tough conversations in the future. Talk about the “why” and most people will understand and respect the business decision. Plus – it doesn’t hurt that their fixed (guaranteed) income is a lot higher than in places where commissions and big performance bonuses are paid.

Collaborative relationships in a multi-disciplinary firm

At Kearney Group, collaboration is at the core of everything we do. It just so happens to also be a really great mechanism for protecting process and ensuring high quality advice goes to our clients. Here’s how it works around Kearney Group:

• Our people work in Dedicated Advisory Teams and at least two, many times more, advisers will be in attendance at client meetings. Not only does this present amazing opportunities for learning and professional development for our team, it ensures our clients are truly known and deeply understood by the various professionals who work in their service.
• As a multi-disciplinary practice, our advisers are also required to work collaboratively, across departmental lines in the service of their clients. It’s not unusual to see client meetings held with both an accountant and financial planner in the room.
• The relationships we seek to develop are ones between the client and the practice; rather than between the client and a single adviser.
• Developing this culture of collaboration and embedding deep client understanding within the entire firm, has many benefits:
  • Innovation & Improved Outcomes – as the saying goes: “two brains are better than one,” and by drawing on the experience and knowledge of multiple advisers, we frequently come up with dramatically bigger and better ideas. Our clients love that they’re able to draw on expertise of a range of specialists in a single location.
  • Improved Accessibility & Sense of Client Service – Because clients are known to a team of advisers, when they call or drop by, they’re able to speak to someone who knows them and understands what’s going on in their financial world. It also means that if their lead adviser is ill or on leave or permanently departs the firm, there’s no gap in their level of service.
  • Quality – From a QA and governance perspective, our Dedicated Advisory Team structure also helps to embed the expectation that each of us will receive constructive feedback and rigorous peer review on all work that goes out the door. Feedback and Peer Reviews are both extremely important for personal and professional growth, but also a major tool we use to ensure our advice meets our quality, accountability and ethical standards.

TIP: Build tests for oversights in quality, independence and conflict of interest into a Peer Review Checklist. Distribute your checklist to all members of your team and encourage your people to stress-test any job or piece of advice that they encounter. Make providing feedback or reporting a potential issue an easy and open process, that starts from a place of care for your client. The work from the most junior to most senior employees in your practice should be subject to the same level of scrutiny and review.

So there it is – for what it’s worth. A couple of tips and ideas to embed ethics in our work, in our practices and in our budding profession.

The future is bright… it’s an exciting time to be in financial services and with some focus and effort, we can build toward best practice and shine a light on the good people, leading advisers and top firms that surround us. Then replicate, replicate, replicate and legislate… and eventually the tide will turn and one day, we’ll wake up and our ‘industry’ will have blossomed into a true Profession.

By Paul Kearney, Founder & CEO, Kearney Group Financial Services

The post Advice, ethics and the professionalisation journey appeared first on AdviserVoice.