wattle partners

It seems that while the older generations may be tilting towards simplification, the younger generations are looking for control and engagement. For financial advisers, this is a trend worth noting.

Most advisers know the value of changing their language when switching from industry speak to client discourse, but many still fall into the trap of distancing themselves from clients by using jargon and buzzwords.

To make advice work, advisers need to home in on the centre of their business proposition, sometimes at the expense of their better intentions.

Retirement’s approach requires a profound change in how investors approach markets and construct portfolios, including arranging their income needs around three distinct periods of retired life, the financial advice firm’s founders said.

When a client posed the question to Wattle Partners adviser Drew Meredith it caught him off guard: “Am I good client?” they asked. “How could I be better?”

Australians are retiring much later and with more in their retirement coffers than ever before, according to the ABS, with a confluence of factors behind the trend.

As advisers we tend to forget the incredible position in which we sit, as the stewards of client capital, with the power to determine what types of companies deserve or warrant additional investment. Our advocacy effectively provides capital to these companies to continue to grow and evolve.

The quantum of licensees may be growing, but none of that growth is coming from the big end of town. Advice groups are increasingly eschewing larger groups and pursuing autonomy in the way they run their practice.

Despite the emotional expenditure required to hold someone’s hand in the darkest hours of their life, whilst retaining a high degree of professional acumen, it is both a responsibility and an honour. But it can leave a scar, writes Drew Meredith.

Interest rates were never meant to be so low for so long. Wattle Partners principal Drew Meredith ponders whether the hangover has some investors lagging; are too many hanging onto risky assets, when low-risk returns are so easy to find?