Industry

Consumer trust isn’t something to be taken for granted, but reports from the UK, US and here at home are all pointing towards an uplift in trust levels around financial advice, which can only be a welcome development.

There are significant tailwinds behind the financial advice industry at the moment, but some major obstacles are still preventing advice practices from taking advantage of surging demand according to a new study from CFS.

As part of the strategic partnership, Indian CFP aspirants will have a pathway to gain qualifications that meet the Australian regulatory framework. It’s a bold plan, but one that could help shore up adviser numbers according to the FAAA.

The move from Viridian and CFS to provide personal advice in a scaled manner highlights a growing willingness within the industry to fix its own problems in lieu of waiting for the government.

The amount of complaints against advisers that reach AFCA has plummeted in the authority’s five years of operation, and it’s not just falling adviser numbers that are contributing to the improvement in consumer satisfaction.

The merged association has added a new core driver to its strategic objectives for the next six years, with growing the profession now a top priority. But the inherent challenges, and past failures, are forcing the FAAA to try new ways of getting more advisers on the books. 

The investment vehicles of wealthy families are internalising asset management and professionalising their investment teams at a rapid rate, according to Citi Private.

Compliance staff have been in high demand for a few years now, but the rise of industry super funds and the private capital sector has created even more demand for talent, both at the top and bottom end of the experience spectrum.

The customer base for US advisers is growing in the same way that it is in Australia. But the more granular trends that are emerging tell an even more interesting story that Australian advisers would do well to heed.

“It isn’t really a surprise,” FAAA chair David Sharpe said, noting that advisers with CFP next to their name go through “blood, sweat and tears” to attain the designation.

After 21 years building up Pitcher Partners’ wealth management division into a $3.6 billion powerhouse, the high-profile adviser will break from the firm to create an advice group focussed on servicing HNW clients and their families.

It’s been a tale of two models in advice, with the accountants that provide holistic advice services going one direction and those that provide SMSF advice another. Meanwhile, the pure financial planning business model has remained steady.