Bryce Quirk

Australia’s financial advice practices want to serve more clients but are constrained by capacity and process inefficiencies, according to the 2025 Advice Practice Profitability Report, commissioned by Colonial First State (CFS) and conducted by Empower Business Advisory.

Drawing on insights from more than 500 advisers and support staff, the report delivers a comprehensive view of the operational realities, strategic priorities, and growth ambitions shaping Australia’s financial advice practices.

Despite ambitions to expand client relationships, advisers are falling short of growth targets and managing only marginally more clients. The average adviser now manages 112 ongoing clients, up from 110 in 2024, and aspires to serve 152. Fewer than one in five (18%) say they are at their ideal number of clients or looking to reduce them.

When asked about the barriers to serving more clients, an increasing proportion of advisers are finding themselves or their client service teams operating at full capacity, climbing from 35% in 2024 to 42% in 2025. Inefficiencies in providing advice, such as producing statements of advice, is the next most cited barrier at 27%.
Building more profitable practices is the top strategic priority for advisers over the next three years (54%), followed by increasing capacity to serve more clients (50%) and streamlining processes (44%).

“Advisers want to serve more clients and streamline operations, yet capacity constraints are rising. This highlights a critical dynamic – platform selection is a strategic enabler of growth,” said Bryce Quirk, Group Executive Distribution, Colonial First State.

“The 2025 Advice Practice Profitability Report shows that advisers using CFS FirstChoice serve 30% more ongoing clients than those on other platforms, while maintaining strong profitability. FirstChoice outperforms the industry average across each of the business impact metrics tracked in the study, with its strongest lead in adviser satisfaction for lowering the cost of serving clients, reducing business complexity, and supporting simpler advice strategies,” added Mr Quirk.

Platforms will play a key role in boosting advisers’ operational capacity, with more practices planning technology stack reviews (28%, up from 22% in 2024) and better system integration (32%, up from 23%).

Advisers using CFS’s FirstChoice as their primary platform reported serving an average of 139 clients compared to the 107 served by advisers using other platforms.  This is achieved through operational efficiencies delivered by the platform, with features such as the client onboarding tool launched in 2024 saving an average of 31% of the time required to establish an individual account and 36% for a family with three or more accounts.

Advisers who use FirstChoice Managed Accounts extensively, defined as using managed accounts with at least 80% of their clients, report positive business outcomes that directly benefit clients. These include helping to keep advice fees low (85%), reducing business complexity (90%), and providing an effective solution for clients with simpler advice needs (92%).

“Building more streamlined and profitable practices is a key strategic priority for most advice firms, with the majority focused on simplifying operations and increasing revenue per client over the next three years,” said Recep Peker, Managing Director of Empower Business advisory. “Many see platforms playing an essential role in expanding their operational capacity, and want to partner with those offering robust, consistent processes that give them the confidence to scale sustainably and achieve their growth ambitions.”

“Advisers are also looking to reinvest their efficiency gains back into their businesses and clients. Beyond serving more clients, they say greater capacity would allow them to refine their business models and strengthen their value proposition to clients, while also achieving better work-life balance for themselves and their teams,” said Mr Peker.

Read the 2025 Advice Practice Profitability Report.

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Recep Peker

Investment platforms used by financial advisers have ramped up functionality and pricing innovation in their bid to deliver better client outcomes and win market share, according to the 2024 Platform Market Wrap released by SuitabilityHub today.

The comprehensive report provides a detailed analysis of Australia’s 14 major platforms and investment administration solutions, offering valuable insights for financial advisers and product providers.

Key insights include:

• Platforms are rapidly modernising their digital capabilities, akin to apps like Uber, allowing advisers to efficiently self-serve and track tasks in real-time, ultimately enhancing their service to clients and reducing call volumes to the platform.
• The focus on improving client outcomes is evident through innovative propositions such as zero administration fee products like CFS Edge Accelerate 100 and HUB24 Discover, aimed at addressing advice affordability and competing with industry funds.
• Noteworthy platform enhancements include North’s addition of fractional shares in managed accounts, CFS Edge’s division of client accounts into sub-accounts for greater flexibility, and CFS FirstChoice’s streamlined origination journey, all contributing to adviser efficiency gains and improved client outcomes.

Advisers can gain access to the 2024 Platform Market Wrap by subscribing to the SuitabilityHub research software.

Modernisation of digital self-service

Platforms are paving the road towards a state where they can be true digital offerings that allow advisers to self-serve more efficiently. A key focus of the industry over the last year has been on enabling advisers to place more instructions online without filling forms, processing them without human intervention in their back-end, and facilitating real-time tracking over such service requests.

“We are seeing platforms modernising to become more like everyday apps, such as Uber or Amazon, when facilitating requests from the adviser office,” said Recep Peker, Managing Director of SuitabilityHub. “There is a growing range of instructions advisers can simply provide through the platform’s online interface, and then track their status in real-time through platform work tracker.”

“When platforms are prompt and transparent, when they execute well, it helps the adviser look good in front of their clients. It’s one of those things that helps build trust in the adviser-client relationship.”

Key developments in this area include BT Panorama’s continued investment in its workflow tracker, which launched in late 2022 with the innovation of providing advisers estimated completion dates for tasks based on a 7-day rolling average. In 2023, BT incorporated the tracker into its adviser mobile app and built proactive features such as providing task-specific forms through the tracker. HUB24, Macquarie Wrap and North each added greater granularity to their respective workflow trackers, helping advisers better follow progress and identify if the next action is on them, the client or the platform admin team.

“Platforms that are modernising their digital self-service offerings are reporting significantly reduced call volumes, as client service officers now have a compelling alternative to waiting on hold to get an update on a specific task,” said Peker. “This allows both the adviser office and the platform service centre to dedicate themselves to more value-add activities.”

Improving client outcomes

In tandem with the advancements in digital self-service, platform providers are focusing on enhancing client outcomes. Client best interest duty looms large in the minds of advisers, and platform providers strive to win advisers over with propositions that enable them to better demonstrate they are acting in the best interest of clients. Three key levers are being pulled to achieve this: fees, targeted additions to the product suite, and new functionality.

The last months of 2023 saw the launch of two next generation propositions with cheaper SMA-based menus. The new offerings from HUB24 Discover and CFS Edge Accelerate leverage scale and manager relationships to deliver zero or discounted platform administration fees to clients, targeting a total cost to client of less than 1%.

“CFS Edge’s Accelerate Series and HUB24’s Discover represent big steps in helping advisers address the issue of advice affordability,” said Bailey Hao, Senior Analyst at SuitabilityHub. “Their range of associated cost benefits, most notably a zero or reduced platform administration fee, places them in a very competitive position against industry funds.”

From a product perspective, there is a particular focus on delivering solutions to help advisers service the pre-retiree and retiree markets. North has been leading the way with its MyNorth Lifetime suite to provide a guaranteed stream of lifetime income, which afford advisers the flexibility of a wrap account while granting clients a variety of tax and social security benefits. Meanwhile, HUB24 and Netwealth have natively integrated Allianz Retire+ AGILE and Challenger fixed-term annuities respectively, allowing advisers to administer these solutions like other investments on the platform.

Our favourite innovations

Each year, a number of platform enhancements stand out for their ability to improve client outcomes, create adviser efficiency gains, and be innovative. Looking over the past 12 months, our favourite innovations include:

• North facilitating fractional shares in managed accounts: This innovation will enable advisers to recommend SMAs to more clients, particularly those with lower balances, democratising client access to SMAs and improving client outcomes from better tracking of the manager’s target model and reduced cash drag.
• CFS Edge dividing client accounts into sub-accounts: This simple yet high impact innovation delivers greater flexibility and ease in implementing advice strategies. For example, by making applying a bucket strategy for retirees easier. Not having to set up multiple accounts also helps reduce administrative burden, such as effort in generating reports.
• CFS FirstChoice’s new origination journey: Facilitated by Elemnta and its integration with Xplan, this delivers significant time savings when opening platform accounts. It includes pre-populating data from Xplan, setting up multiple accounts across a family group in one go, completing multiple forms without re-keying data, and two-step rollovers to save time in situations where the original super fund has insurance attached.

Many more great innovations that benefit advisers and their clients are listed in the full report.

About the report

The inaugural edition of the SuitabilityHub Platform Market Wrap provides a comprehensive view of Australia’s platform industry. Designed for financial advisers and product providers, the report covers the latest changes to platform propositions and reviews the cost and feature competitiveness of Australia’s most widely used platforms.

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Recep Peker

SuitabilityHub brings fresh perspective to platform selection beyond just cost

Picking the right investment platform to partner with can be vital to the success of an advice business. SuitabilityHub, a financial product research software designed for the post-QAR world, aims to make that choice clearer and more informed, moving past the typical focus on fees.

After speaking with many advisers and licensees, it’s clear that many base their decisions on costs. The challenge? Explaining why a client should choose a certain platform when there’s a cheaper option out there.

“Our discussions with advisers showed a pressing need for a broader perspective on platform selection,” says Recep Peker, Founder and Managing Director at SuitabilityHub. “While costs are certainly important, there’s a multitude of other factors that advisers need to have on their radar, and we aim to bring those to the forefront.”

The platform functionality arms race is driving more nuanced propositions.

Platforms are not just about administration, custody, and reporting anymore. Most deliver a full suite of world-class functionality, while advisers in countries like the U.S. often need to plug multiple solutions together just to get the same capability. Strong competition between providers means proposition innovation is set to continue.

“We are now seeing many platforms in the process of evolving to play a more central role in an adviser’s practice,” said Peker. “This transition suggests a paradigm shift where platforms aren’t just tools but partners that assist advisers in delivering top-notch service.”

For example, SuitabilityHub analysis of recent platform enhancements reveals some platforms are continuing to invest into strengthening their ability to capture data and report on clients’ off-platform assets, which can be a great timesaver for advisers focused on high-net-worth (HNW) clients. While these platforms may be more expensive than the rest, the reduced manual administrative work and the benefits for HNW clients of seeing all their assets together in one place could justify the additional administration fees.

Meanwhile, some platforms are forgoing these bells and whistles and instead are doubling down on maximising advisers’ capacity to serve. They have been investing heavily in streamlining processes, digitising, and providing excellent service and support, and advisers focused on certain client segments such as retirees or the mass-affluent market may find these solutions more suitable.

Facilitating a more holistic approach to Best Interest Duty

SuitabilityHub empowers advisers to consider the unique needs of their target customer and then pinpoint which platforms can best meet these needs. This is all done through a guided decision-making tool which walks users through the process and enables them to demonstrate the steps they took to act in the best interest of their clients.

An interesting discovery from the SuitabilityHub research was when comparing leading platforms like HUB24 and Netwealth. At first glance, they seem quite alike, as they have a similar number of features. But a closer look reveals that only about 60% of their features overlap. Peker adds, “Every platform has its own way of distinguishing itself, which is why understanding those unique points can make all the difference in selecting the most suitable platforms.”

“We have seen many case studies that illustrate how your platform selection may vary if you choose them based on the features you need to serve your target market, rather than relying exclusively on fee analysis.”

A significant aspect of SuitabilityHub’s value proposition lies in its ability to offer a transparent analysis of platforms across their functionality, business metrics and cost. With over 500 features documented and continuously updated, advisers can fine-tune their selections based on their business needs and their clients’ expectations.

“We have a unique approach to the Best Interest Duty conversation,” said Peker. “SuitabilityHub is designed to facilitate a more holistic approach across three key stages. We enable advisers to first shortlist platforms based on those that have the features needed to serve their client. Next, we help them pick products based on what their client values in a platform business, be it financial strength, operational robustness or ESG policies. And finally, we look at the total platform cost to the client’s family, including transaction fees, interest earned on cash and family linking benefits.”

Since its introduction to platform providers and licensees in early 2023, SuitabilityHub has garnered significant traction and is gearing up for a broader launch. “The early reception has been incredibly positive,” Peker comments. “We’re excited to unveil SuitabilityHub to the wider adviser community, ensuring they’re equipped with the insights and tools needed for informed decision-making.”

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Recep Peker

Leading research firm Investment Trends has released its 2020 Planner Business Model Report, an in-depth study of Australian financial planners and their business support needs.

Key highlights:

• Financial planner numbers hold steady despite macro headwinds
• Planners have minimised client attrition, but profitability growth remains a challenge
• The cohort of self-licensed planners continues to expand rapidly

Financial planner numbers hold steady despite macro headwinds

Australia’s population of financial planners has held steady despite challenges on multiple fronts. While the number of ASIC registered advisers has changed substantially in recent times, the underlying number of true financial planners who serve Australians nationwide remained steady at 17,500 in 2020 – a figure that has held steady throughout the past decade.

“Financial planners remain resilient against a shifting regulatory landscape, disruptions from major players entering and leaving the wealth management space, and the recent pandemic-induced market volatility,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends.

“Similar regulatory challenges have impacted the UK advice market in the past decade, reducing their planner headcount by 20%, further highlighting the strength of Australian advice industry.”

Looking forward, industry attrition will not be seismic, with only 4% of financial planners intending to stop providing advice in the year ahead, and a further 3% in the year after.

Planners have minimised client attrition, but profitability growth remains a challenge

Planners have successfully minimised client attrition despite recent headwinds. The average planner acquired 16 new clients in the last 12 months but lost 17 over the same period – similar to levels observed in 2019.

Despite strong efforts to maintain client numbers, practice profitability growth remains a challenge. In 2020, a record high 41% of planners said their practice was less profitable compared to last year (up from 38% in 2019, and 18% in 2018).

“While COVID-19 has added to the host of challenges that planners were already grappling with in their business, their top challenges remain compliance obligations (67% cite this) and providing affordable advice (46%),” said Peker.

“Still, some advice practices have performed better than their peers. The industry’s most successful (by net profit margin, client and profitability growth) appear more adept at handling compliance-related obligations through their technological efficiency.”

“These high performing practices were also far more likely to be prepared for COVID-19 related disruptions from a technology and operations perspective, highlighting the importance for all planners to optimise their technology stack for operational and client-facing benefits.”

The cohort of self-licensed planners continues to expand rapidly

The move to self-licensing continues at pace, with 30% of planners now holding their own AFSL or operating in a boutique AFSL – a two-fold increase since 2016. A further one in ten is considering becoming self-licensed.

“More planners are heading down the self-licensing route, whether by choice or structural changes in the industry. As the dynamics of the advice market evolve, so do planners’ support and service needs,” said Peker.

Currently, almost all self-licensed planners (92%) outsource or use third-party expertise, most often for compliance/audits, research, professional development and paraplanning.

Still, a growing proportion have unmet support needs, particularly around developing effective advice/review processes (27%, up from 12%), best practice examples (20%, up from 9%) and technical support (14%, up from 8%).

“All planners – whether self-licensed or part of a licensee network – seek greater support from providers across the financial planning value chain,” said Peker.

“Through the pandemic, planners most often acknowledged the support received from their colleagues (58% cited ‘good’ support) and licensee (43%), but more work can be done by investment product providers (33%), platforms (26%) and professional associations (18%).”

About the report

The results are drawn from the Investment Trends 2020 Planner Business Model Report, based on an in-depth study of 693 financial planners concluded in May 2020.

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Recep Peker

Specialist researcher Investment Trends has released its 2020 1H Online Investing Report, an in-depth study of the preferences and behaviours of online equities and ETF investors in Australia.

Key highlights:

• The active investor population surpasses one million for the first time
• Investors demand more features and services from online brokers
• ESG factors matter in investment selection
• CommSec Pocket leads the industry in overall client satisfaction

The active investor population surpasses one million for the first time

Buoyed by record levels of market volatility, the population of active retail online investors in Australia surpassed one million for first time. Between December 2019 and June 2020, the number of active online investors grew by 41% from 750,000 to 1.06 million.

“Australia is now home to over one million active online investors who have traded listed investment in the past year, driven largely by a record inflow of 265,000 first-time investors,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends.

“First-time investors typically consist of young Australians in the Zoomer or Millennial age group, but the pandemic-induced lockdown has accelerated these trends. This year, the vast majority of first-time investors are under the age of 40 (70%), which represents a significant shift from last year (51%),” added Peker.

“Many first-time investors were attracted by buying opportunities presented by the market sell-off earlier this year, while the ability to start investing with small amounts was also a catalyst for many.”

“But as the demographics of the industry evolves, there is now great responsibility on online brokers, product manufacturers and thought leaders to help investors navigate this uncertain investing climate,” explained Peker.

Investors demand more features and services from online brokers

An increasingly competitive landscape has given online investors greater choice of brokers and cheaper brokerage (or zero brokerage in some cases). Even so, most Australian online investors are prepared to pay their main broker to access more features and services.

“Low cost remains a strong driver for selecting an online broker, but the quality of service and support also matter,” said Peker.

“Industry wide, 63% of online investors are willing to pay their main broker for additional features, highlighting their demand for greater support. As the top of their wish list is stock research or more advanced analysis, tax tools and live pricing.”

“As price competition intensifies, online brokers will look to differentiate through the breadth and depth of their offering. Importantly, online investors themselves are willing and prepared to pay for additional services they believe will add value to their trading experience,” explained Peker.

ESG factors matter in investment selection

A significant proportion of online investors are applying ‘Responsible Investing’ principles to their investment decisions – by considering the impact of ethical, environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors when selecting investments.

Specifically, a quarter of investors (24%) said they had bought or sold investments based on environmental impact. Many have taken action by considering ethical and corporate governance factors (17% each, respectively), while 9% took social issues into account.

“There is strong appetite for investments that demonstrate good ESG standards, and the desire for investors to align their investments to their values, goals and aspirations is notable across all age segments (see chart),” said Peker.

CommSec Pocket leads the industry in overall client satisfaction

Each year, Investment Trends measures client satisfaction with their main online broker across 19 key service areas, including their overall satisfaction. For the first time, CommSec Pocket has clinched top spot in overall satisfaction with 57% of clients rating it as ‘very good’ overall. Stake (47%) and SelfWealth (40%) round out the top three.

About the report

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Australian online broking market, examining attitudes, behaviour and product usage among active online investors.

Based on a survey of 16,870 investors and traders, the Investment Trends 2020 1H Online Investing Report is the largest and most comprehensive independent study of the online stockbroking industry in Australia.

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Recep Peker

Global research house Investment Trends has released its latest Robo-advice Report, an in-depth study of the adoption and appetite for automated investment services.

The study is based on a large-scale survey of almost 20,000 online investors across Australia, the USA, the UK, Spain, Germany, France, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Key highlights:

• US providers continue to lead the way
• There is strong latent demand for robo-advice among women investors
• Micro-savings has widespread popularity in Australia, but competition is arriving

US providers continue to lead the way

The latest Investment Trends research shows that the USA continues to lead in adoption of robo-advice across the globe. Close to a quarter of active online investors in the USA (23%) use robo-advice services in some shape or form – significantly higher than countries like the UK (13%), Singapore (9%) or Australia (7%).

“The US robo-advice market leads in adoption levels and range of offerings. But US robo-advice providers have not stood still as they continue refining their offerings – specialist fintech providers are getting better at being banks, while the established wealth brands are getting better at becoming fintech firms,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends.

“Powerhouses like Vanguard, Schwab, E*TRADE, and Fidelity already have well established in-house automated investment services, but continue to compete intensely on price and mobile platform improvements, while fintechs like Betterment, Wealthfront and Stash are intent on being a one-stop-shop for investors’ savings, investing and transacting needs.”

“While collective primary online investor relationships in the US market are evenly split between the established wealth brands and fintechs, the common recipe for success among all successful robo-advice providers is their ability to deliver a diversified portfolio and demonstrate tangible time and cost savings to their customers,” explained Peker.

There is strong latent demand for robo-advice among women investors

Women online investors are not only more likely to be using robo-advice services than men, the interest to start using these solutions among women is also higher, with similar trends observed across the globe.

For instance, 29% of women online investors in the US currently use robo-advice compared to 22% among male online investors. While in Australia, women online investors are more likely to consider using robo-advice in the future than men (40% vs 36%).

“Providers that intend to satisfy the strong latent demand for robo-advice among women investors will do well to understand the distinct needs and priorities of these investors,” said Peker. “When selecting a robo-advice provider, women online investors are more likely than men to prioritise the user interface (55% vs 49%) and education initiatives (40% vs 34%) but are less like to focus on fees (41% vs 53%).”

Micro-savings has widespread popularity in Australia, but competition is arriving

The adoption of robo-advice in Australia remains behind established markets like the US (7% vs 23%), but providers like Raiz – a micro-saving and investing app – has gained significant traction with over 200,000 active customers nationwide.

“Raiz’s popularity highlights the appeal of micro-savings functionality among Australian investors. For other robo-advice providers, brand awareness appears to be an issue, with less than 12% of Australian online investors saying they are aware of providers like Stockspot, Spaceship Voyager, Clover or Sixpark, respectively,” said Peker.

“Nonetheless, there is significant scope for growth with 38% of Australian online investors considering using robo-advice in the future. The recent launch of solutions like CommSec Pocket and Vanguard Personal Investor gives Australians greater access to low cost, diversified portfolios. But to stand out, providers must demonstrate their cost and time savings benefits, and how the service is the ideal option to begin their investing journey,” explained Peker.

About the report

The Investment Trends Robo-advice Report uncovers the adoption of robo-advice services among current online investors across the globe. The Report is based on detailed online surveys completed by almost 20, 000 online investors across eight major countries between February and December 2019.

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Peker Recep

International Women’s Day 2020 coincides with the release of the latest Investment Trends research of Australian online investors – the 2019 2H Online Broking Report – so there is no better time to look at key trends in the retail investing space from the perspective of women investors.

Key highlights

• More Australian women than ever are investing to build their wealth
• There is a strong desire among women investors to learn and further educate themselves
• Interest to access overseas investments and ESG-centric products is growing at pace

More Australian women than ever are investing to build their wealth

The latest research shows that women still make up only 18% of the 750,000 active online investors across Australia. But the good news is this gap is closing.

“In recent years – and particularly through 2019 – the proportion of Australian women who began investing for the very first time grew substantially to 28% of that cohort, more than double the rate observed five plus years ago,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends

“While more work needs to be done to lift the ratio of women investors, Australia is substantially ahead of established markets such as the UK (11% women, 89% male) and is within touching distance of the US (21% women, 79% male),” added Peker.

There is a strong desire among women investors to learn and further educate themselves

For women, knowledge and education are central to their investment journey, and Investment Trends’ research shows that women who invest have a strong desire to expand their knowledge and further educate themselves on investments and investing.

“Similar to their male counterparts, women most often rely on their own personal research and company-produced reports as a foundation for making investment decisions, but they are substantially more likely to collaborate and discuss ideas with their friends and family members (37% cite this vs 28% for males),” said Peker.

“Women are also somewhat more likely to seek out the views of prominent investors and commentators (24% vs 22%), listen to investment-related podcasts (19% vs 17%), and rely on investment-related online forums and blogs, with the Barefoot Investor a firm favourite (accessed by 36% of women investors vs 19% of males),” added Peker.

The same is true for women who want to begin their investing journey in the next 12 months. This group – to a vastly higher extent than men – want to start by investing small amounts of money (52% vs 33%). And they are significantly more likely than men to want education, a good understanding of how to manage risk and the ability to share and learn from the experience of others.

“It is no coincidence, then, that both in Australia and globally, women investors have increasingly embraced low entry cost products with ETFs at their core, such as microsavings apps and robo-advice services,” said Peker.

Interest to access overseas investments and ESG-centric products is growing at pace

Two emerging trends across the Australian investor population is the growing demand to invest in international markets and ESG investing.

Currently, over half of online investors say they invest in international assets in some shape or form, a proportion that is roughly similar across gender lines (50% for women and 55% for men). But the propensity to add overseas investments in their portfolio is strongly linked to their investing experience – the longer a person has been investing in the markets, the more likely they are to seek exposure to investments outside Australia.

“Where our research shows a gender differential for overseas investing is in the investment vehicles used for overseas exposure. Women are more likely than men to access international exposure through ETFs (55% vs 49%) instead of direct equities (36% vs 46%). Clearly, the core benefits of ETFs – low cost, easy access to a diversified portfolio – resonate strongly with women irrespective of the fund’s underlying exposure,” commented Peker.

On the ESG front, more than a third of Australian investors (36%) now say they have or will use ESG factors when selecting their investments. While men and women report this in equal proportions, women across every age group place greater emphasis on ethical, socially responsible and environmentally responsible factors (see chart 2). But once again, women investors are almost twice as likely to feel they don’t know enough about Responsible Investing to get started (22% vs 12%).

“Service providers and product manufacturers can make a positive difference by helping women align their investments to their values, goals and aspirations. But to do this, they must deliver the products and tools to help start the investment journey and deepen the investing journey,” said Peker.

“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Let’s all be each for equal’’, and financial equality remains central to this goal. It is crucial that the wealth management industry continues to empower women from all walks of life to take control of their financial wellbeing – young or old, wealthy or financially-challenged, self-reliant or requiring financial advice.”

About the report

The Investment Trends 2019 2H Australian Online Broking Report is an in-depth analysis of active online investors in Australia, examining their investing behaviour, attitudes and product usage.

This Report is based on a survey of 13,161 investors and traders, making it the largest and most comprehensive independent study of the online stockbroking industry in Australia.

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Peker Recep

Specialist researcher Investment Trends has released its 2018 2H Online Broking Report, an in-depth study of the attitudes and behaviours of online equities and ETF investors in Australia.

Trends highlighted in the report:

• More Australians are investing despite choppy market conditions.
• Digital engagement channels continue to grow in importance.
• Investors embrace advancements in consumer technology.

More Australians are investing despite choppy market conditions

Investment Trends surveyed over 8,000 Australian online investors in Q4 2018, examining their trading experience through this particularly volatile period. The research reveals that rather than being deterred by the fourth quarter’s challenging market conditions, many investors chose to continue trading, while many dormant investors were prompted to recommence their trading activity. This has led to a significant rise in the population of online investors in the six months to Dec 2018 – from 720,000 to 750,000.

“Many online investors took the broad sell-off in equities at the end of 2018 as a buying opportunity. Existing investors stayed invested or made additional investments, and 76,000 resuming their investing activity in the last six months,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends.

“In the current market and geopolitical climate, investors’ needs from the online brokers and product providers they use are increasingly concentrated around decision support tools,” added Peker. “There is widespread appetite for stock recommendations, trading ideas, in-depth research and analyst reports as investors seek tools that give them the edge to make informed decisions in these uncertain times.”

Digital engagement channels continue to grow in importance

In line with their growing need for better decision support tools, online investors are increasingly relying on digital engagement channels as part of their investing. Nationwide, 24% of online investors currently use social media platforms for investing or finance-related purposes, and a further 11% intend to start doing so in the future.

“Many investors recognise the value of social media in their investment decision-making process, most often using it to deepen their knowledge, keep abreast of the latest developments and network with like-minded investors,” said Peker.

“Along with the rising prominence of digital engagement platforms such as social media, blogs and online forums, a new wave of brokers such as SelfWealth and Stake are leveraging these platforms to gain traction with online investors, especially the younger crowd,” added Peker. “These new challengers make effective use of online media channels to raise their brand profile and engage with their audience by focusing on a seamless user experience or building a vibrant online community.”

Investors embrace advancements in consumer technology

The Australian online investor population is largely attuned with the latest technological developments – both within the realm of investing and the broader consumer technology space. For instance, half say they are familiar with the concept of robo-advice (or digital investing platforms), and when asked their opinion on voice-activated smart speakers (such as Apple Siri or Amazon Alexa), two in three believed these applications were useful.

Many online investors believe smart speakers make life easier by simplifying access to general information (45% say so) and investing-related data (26%), but many would also be interested in receiving general investing-related advice (15%) or buying and selling shares (13%) using verbal commands.

“Australian online investors appreciate technology, tools or resources that improve their investing experience,” said Peker. “The interest shown by online investors in smart speaker technology emphasises the depth of their demand for convenient and timely access to information in their investment decision-making.”

About the report

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Australian online broking market, examining attitudes, behaviour and product usage among active online investors.

Based on a survey of 8,462 investors and traders, the Investment Trends 2018 2H Online Broking Report is the largest and most comprehensive independent study of the online stockbroking industry in Australia.

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Peker Recep

Leading research firm Investment Trends has released its October 2018 Investor Intentions Index, a monthly study that tracks investors’ market outlook and intended investments.

The study draws on monthly surveys which were answered by 2,095 Australian investors over the last 12 months.

Australian investors’ share market return expectations turn negative for the first time since the GFC

The forward looking return expectations of Australian investors fell sharply in October, in line with the performance of the market. Aussie retail investors are now expecting a negative return over the next 12 months – the first time return expectations have gone negative in Australia since Investment Trends began tracking this in 2009.

Each month we ask investors what return they expect from the Australian stock market, excluding dividends, over the next 12 months. In October the average capital gain expectation of investors fell to -1%, down from +1.2% in September and +4.7% in January (see chart).

“Investors now believe we’re in a bear market, on average expecting domestic markets will be lower in 12 months’ time than where they are today,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends. “While recent volatility has played a hand in driving this pessimism, investors are more concerned about major global issues.”

Throughout 2017 investors were becoming increasingly desensitised to both market volatility and global events. In fact, when asked to rate their level of concern with the situation in the world’s financial markets, in February 2018 the average investor was the least concerned since the GFC.

The picture is very different in October 2018, with concern levels reaching a 22 month high. When asked what they are most worried about, only 27% cite the recent share market volatility – the sixth-most cited reason.

Geopolitical events are casting a darker shadow over investors’ outlook than domestic issues, with investors most concerned about the current White House administration (46%); tension between the world’s major economies (40%); global debt levels (33%) and a China slowdown (32%).

“Whether directly or indirectly, Australians are concerned about the economic outcomes of the current White House administration and the trade policies being implemented both by the US and in response to them,” said Peker. “With capital gain expectations for the Australian stock market turning negative at the same time that the local property market has cooled, financial services firms of all kinds will need to work hard to convince Australians to stay invested through the current cycle.”

Oct 2017: 3.1%

Nov 2017: 4.3%

Dec 2017: 4.8%

Jan 2018: 4.7%

Feb 2018: 4.4%

Mar 2018: 1.6%

Apr 2018: 1.9%

May 2018: 3.8%

Jun 2018: 3.0%

Jul: 2018 2.7%

Aug: 2018 2.5%

Sep: 2018 1.2%

Oct: 2018 -1.0%

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Peker Recep

Leading research firm Investment Trends has released its 2018 Planner Business Model Report, an in-depth study of Australian financial planners and their business processes.

The report, now in its fifteenth year, is based on a survey of 899 financial planners concluded in May 2018.

In light of the recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, this year’s study sheds light on a financial planning profession in flux.

Financial planners’ active client base continues to shrink, further limiting practice profitability growth

The pool of clients advised by financial planners continues to decline. According to the latest research from Investment Trends, the fall in client numbers was driven primarily by increased attrition and subdued new client acquisition. In the last 12 months alone, the average planner lost 35 active clients relationships, while gaining only 20 new relationships over the same period.

A shrinking client base has adversely impacted practice profitability growth, with fewer planners saying their practice experienced year-on-year growth in profits (53% saying so, down from 59% in 2017 and 61% in 2016).

“Planners continue to face challenges on multiple fronts, chiefly with compliance, client acquisition and building process efficiencies,” said Recep Peker, Research Director at Investment Trends. “Further, the recent Royal Commission inquiry has amplified planners’ concerns with heightened regulatory uncertainty and negative press, and this is proving to be a major impediment to their growth prospects.”

Still, planners are keen to restore their client numbers, with the vast majority (69%) actively looking to grow their client book. “Despite challenging business conditions, the average planner intends to expand their client book and support from their licensee, technology and service partners will be more critical than ever to alleviating their top challenges,” added Peker.

FASEA led reforms seen as a positive step

While planners believe the Royal Commission has dented the reputation of the financial planning industry, the majority (66%) expect positive structural transformation to flow from FASEA led reforms. Only a quarter believe the new professional standards and education framework set out by FASEA will have a negative impact on the industry.

“Most financial planners accept that higher professional standards are vital for the financial planning industry to be truly recognised as a profession,” said Peker. “The younger generation of planners are, in fact, more positive towards these FASEA led reforms.”

Still, many planners see the implementation of FASEA standards will come at a cost, notably through the degree equivalence requirement (57% cite this) and the demands of the once-off exam (31%). “There will be a burden on time and cost for planners as the degree equivalence requirements come into effect in 2024, and support from professional associations and licensees is needed to ensure a smooth transition,” said Peker.

The move to self-licensing is accelerating

Industry wide, the population of self-licensed financial planners is on the rise. In 2018, one in five say they have their own AFSL, double the proportion observed in 2012.

While self-licensed planners brought in a higher level of new inflows over the last 12 months, fewer report annual practice profit growth compared to their colleagues in the wider planning market (47% vs 54%). In addition, the vast majority (78%) seek external assistance with a range of business support needs that they are willing to pay for, especially around SoA build, compliance and client engagement.

“These unmet business support needs represent a significant opportunity for service providers to expand their proposition to support the growth of self-licensed planners,” said Peker.

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