In Practice

Advisers now spend a staggering amount on technology in an effort to keep up with efficiency needs and client expectations. Security is still front of mind, but integration is the buzzword for 2024.

The relative lack of adoption in advice isn’t particularly surprising given its volatile nature and the unregulated state of the digital asset sector. But that may be about to change.

Dealing with the complexity of her own UK pension led the adviser to specialising in helping clients to do the same. Since then, she’s become an expert in a field most other advisers shy away from.

You don’t need to invest in the world’s most expensive stocks to benefit from the AI boom, with the sector’s tentacles stretching much further than the chip-making titan according to Martin Currie.

Advisers are uniquely positioned to identify and alleviate financial abuse cases, but they need support and an action framework according to the association.

Artificial intelligence might be better at gathering and storing knowledge, but incorporating wisdom into an investment approach (or abandoning it altogether) remains the exclusive domain of humans – for now.

There are untold benefits in shifting to a self-licensed advice model, but the move also comes with a host of dangers. Practice owners need to ask themselves some serious questions before taking the plunge.

Making a connection is at the heart of any financial adviser’s value proposition, the consultant says. But to do that, the right language must be leveraged to understand what a client’s legacy values truly are.

The task of standing out in a crowded market place is not getting easier for product providers. Generative AI may hold the key, Michael Kollo says.

The good news? Millions of unadvised Australians see the value in financial advice. The bad news is that the vast majority remain reluctant to attach market rates to that value, even if the advice is digital. But all that has the potential to change.

Making up the adviser shortfall is going to be a challenge, with the big professional services firms just as desperate for top-level talent as advice groups. To get young people interested, Striver founder Alisdair Barr says, we need to make the industry interesting.

From organisational improvements to client “nudges”, the potential for AI to transform advice businesses is limitless according to Netwealth’s Andrew Braun.