Industry

After his executive stint at AMP was cut short eight months ago, Hartley firmed as favourite for the leadership role at its institutional contemporary, Insignia, when Mota announced his departure.

Rob da Silva didn’t plan a career in research, but a confluence of events led to an early career switch away from pure funds management. The research sector has its challenges, which the now-veteran researcher calls “frustrating”, but it also holds real pockets of opportunity for new players to add value for advisers.

When adviser David Murdoch founded Paxton Bridge in 2009 he implemented a slow-burning idea; to manage wealth with ‘activism’ front of mind, which meant finding a way to help clients activate their wealth for the right reasons.

The number of cases being escalated to the complaints authority is soaring, but as we approach the 5-year anniversary of the Hayne Royal Commission it’s clear that a whole new set of issues are driving consumer ire.

Adviser remuneration was a clear thematic this year, with the top two stories focusing on salary levels. Practice management and regulation, once again, played prominent roles in the news cycle, as did the profile of one very interesting young adviser.

The proprietary technology provider will use a capital injection from an existing investor to take advantage of regulatory tailwinds set to push the wealth management industry forward. Staying profitable in the interim will be key.

The problems afflicting Australia’s life insurance advice industry run deep, with pundits estimating there are now less than 1,000 pure risk advisers left in the country. That consumers are turning to other sources of information should come as no surprise.

Advisers won the case against a well-armed opponent and can move on with more financial parity, while AMP’s shareholders and executives can put a long-overdue cap on the damage caused by this at-times acrimonious dispute.

Advisers still place a lot of emphasis on historical performance and fees when they sum up the value of a fund manager, but it’s the thinking behind their investment process that really matters.

Despite a unique value proposition and some notable backers, wealth admin platform OpenInvest finds itself once again looking for capital. “We’ve had mixed results,” says founder Andrew Varlamos.

The Australian Shareholders’ Association and the Australian Investors Association have agreed to amalgamate in the new year, seeking to grow their membership and influence as a unified leader in advocacy and education.

While one listed group reported $236K revenue per adviser, another said its advisers brought in $600K each. But the extraordinary delta is more a function of business models than adviser performance, however.