Wealth management firms do not stall because of bad strategy or weak portfolios. They stall because they never build a real demand engine. This is a clear-eyed look at the four levers that actually determine whether an advice business scales or stays small.
Every few years, a report comes along that forces advisers to rethink how they articulate their worth. Russell Investments’ 2025 Value of an Adviser Report is one of those moments.
Advice firms are on the front line in combatting this nefarious activity that often targets seniors and has cost all Australians nearly $150 million this year alone.
The retirement advice specialists have teamed up with the association to bring greater levels of financial literacy to more Australians. It comes more than a year after the successful merger of the ASA with the Australian Investors Association.
With markets at all-time highs and term deposits paying 5 per cent, the focus needs to shift away from relative returns and back towards positioning for “consistent, absolute” returns that accommodate present market risks.
The benefits of alternative investments are clear, but rapid growth in the product set has made the optimal use of alternatives in portfolios unclear. As markets reach all-time highs, it may be time to re-think how we treat the asset class.
Lazy portfolios can be overconcentrated, overdiversified, full of yesterday’s winners, devoid of structured asset allocation, full of misallocated positions or agnostic to markets and client expectations. All of this is happening more than it should.
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?
Investors and advisers have a tendency to extrapolate recent events into the future, and the last six months have shown how dangerous this can be. For those reviewing and building portfolios as the new financial year begins, five key issues should be front of mind.
The popular debate lacks nuance. Neither are foolproof but both can play a crucial role in building portfolio resistance and balancing the risk/reward dynamic.
Ever since the GFC interest rates around the world have been on a trajectory to zero, which acted as a proxy tax on investing for retirement for millions. But the current economic is a whole new ball game, writes Drew Meredith.
