24 November 2021
We asked whether people who have had two chances to pass the FASEA exam should be allowed to continue advising in 2022. A slim majority said no.
17 November 2021
Academics say the industry needs to do more to make financial planning a welcoming place for the next generation of advisers.
3 November 2021
In the wake of Commonwealth Financial Planning’s exit from advice, Adviser Ratings has examined how the wealth presence of the Big Four banks and AMP has almost collapsed in the last three years. The figures show a decisive trend in a short period of time, which has irreversibly changed the advice landscape.
20 October 2021
With fewer hours to service clients, succinct communication is becoming a necessity for advisers. Recent research has shed some light on the financial terminology investors prefer, which may help firms identify and keep profitable business.
6 October 2021
As financial advice continues its professional evolution, a confluence of factors is putting upward pressure on wages for both new and existing advisers. Should you or your employees expect a new year’s pay rise?
29 September 2021
Speeding Up Advice Delivery: The Efficiencies Some Practices Are Adopting
Statement of Advice production continues to be a major pain point for practices. While some businesses have cut down the process to a few hours, others are taking much longer. Here’s what some firms are doing to reduce production time.
22 September 2021
The once-dominant risk sector has faced a rapid decline in the last couple of years and the trend is set to continue.
With these advisers at a critical juncture, what will the future look like for the industry and for insurers?
15 September 2021
Most advisers know they add a lot of value to their clients' portfolios, but putting a direct number on how much their advice is worth can be tricky.
How do you price up elements like behavioral coaching?
One investment firm thinks it’s come up with the figure to quantify that value.
8 September 2021
A controversial plan to hike the ASIC levy has been reversed by Treasury following outcry from advisers and associations. The industry has unsurprisingly welcomed the move, along with the new plan to review the funding scheme. We talk to Australian advisers to drill down into how the levy affects their bottom lines and who should pay for the industry funding model.
1 September 2021
Advisers are approaching technology in different ways. Some are outsourcing most of their traditional “paperwork”, while others are using it for the bare essentials. While attitudes towards automation have changed since the pandemic, more innovation is needed to bring more advisers to the table.
18 August 2021
It wasn’t long ago that accountants flooded into financial advice, often to add to their SMSF-related services. Two years later, Adviser Ratings data shows the trend has largely been unwound, as cost pressures push accountants out of the industry.
11 August 2021
Stressed licensees have lost hundreds of advisers in the past two years, as the shift to the privately-owned market continues.
Given the increasing operational demands, advisers are expecting more from their licensee to justify their value. Licensees who cannot rise to the occasion risk losing more advisers as the market contracts.
28 July 2021
The government has put forward a plan for fewer regulatory and oversight bodies in a bid to increase access to affordable, quality advice. There have also been several concessions for advisers who are yet to pass the exam. But there are unanswered questions about how compliance and professional obligations will be monitored.
21 July 2021
Finfluencers – or financial influencers – are growing in both popularity and authority, with some amassing followings in the hundreds of thousands. In addition to grabbing fans’ eyes, they’ve come to the attention of the corporate regulator, which is keeping watch on the sort of advice being offered. As an adviser, are finfluencers a threat or an opportunity?
14 July 2021
Advisers are facing higher levels of stress and burnout than their counterparts in other industries, a recent study has found. It’s prompting a significant number of surveyed advisers to consider leaving the industry. However, support is available and a few factors have helped some advisers to flourish at a time of industry change.
1 July 2021
Big client books have become a thing of the past, as advisers rationalise to stay afloat in a market characterised by rising costs and compliance. In a shrinking market, letting go of low value clients has become key to survival for many practices. Making the call is not always easy though, especially if there is no natural new home for the orphaned client.
30 June 2021
With the NAB/MLC acquisition now complete, hundreds of advisers are now settling in or about to move under their new IOOF custodianship.
However, a significant number made early moves from MLC licensees to elsewhere in the market. We look at the losses to NAB/MLC over the past five years and compare it to the beleaguered AMP.
23 June 2021
Despite the significant challenges, self-licensing continues to hold appeal for a large proportion of the adviser market. However, cost pressures and compliance risks often see AFSLs surrendered after a few years.
Is it worth going down the self-licensing route? We look at the pros and cons.
16 June 2021
The shrinking financial advice market will leave many potential clients without advisers to turn to. Adviser numbers are falling in every city, but some capital city regions and districts are losing advisers quicker than neighbouring areas.
Such insights may help advisers looking for a new area to set up shop decide where to channel their expertise.
9 June 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has made working from home more appealing and feasible for many businesses. For advisers who don’t need to be in a city-based office, a regional escape with a lower cost of living may sound tempting.
If you’re thinking this way, it’s worth knowing the areas where departing advisers are leaving a service gap.
2 Jue 2021
The Adviser Ratings team are beyond excited to share this special report with you, the advisers at the heart of our industry.
Proudly sponsored by Vanguard, the report highlights the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in a market going through a once in a generation change.
Based on five months of detailed research across the financial advice universe, we've tailored this report to focus on the issues that matter most to practices and individual advisers.
By making this report freely available to advisers, our aim is to provide you with a valuable and powerful tool to help you navigate the future of your business.
26 May 2021
With education and compliance biting into advisers’ schedules, choosing the right daily priorities is becoming a key part of practice profitability.
However, offloading administration is still a challenge for many businesses. Lessons from other practices may help...
19 May 2021
The average cost of advice has risen in recent years and the trend looks likely to continue.
The smaller adviser market, higher consumer demand and rationalisation of client bases are among the factors putting upward pressure on fees.
But what will it mean for “one off” advice, which last year made up a fifth of advisers’ business? Where will lower value clients go for advice?
12 May 2021
From the banks of the Parramatta River to the expansive bike lanes of the nation’s capital we finally end up in the city, where cool is defined by drinking beer whilst getting a haircut, that is Melbourne CBD.
Join us for the final leg of our journey across Australia as we countdown the top 5 regions of “opportunity” for financial advisers and showcase the top advisers along the way.
3 May 2021
From the waterways of Duungidjawu country that is Moreton Bay, to the hipster enclaves of North Melbourne.
Join us as we continue our travels across Australia's Top 20 Advice regions of “opportunity” for financial advisers and highlight the top advisers along the way.
28 April 2021
Join us for the second edition of our travels across the Australian countryside.
We continue the countdown of the top 20 regions in Australia for the advice profession while showcasing some key stats and the top advisers along the way.
21 April 2021
In the words of the Leyland Brothers, “We’ll travel all over the countryside”...
Join us as we highlight the top 20 regions in Australia for the Advice Profession, showcase some key stats and the top advisers.
14 April 2021
Adviser numbers to fall to 13,000
By the time 2023 rolls around, 15k advisers will have left the advice profession.
Having been battered for the good part of a decade, more than half of the market has decided to throw in the towel.
7 April 2021
With Australian financial advisers witnessing rapidly changing demand patterns from clients, banks exiting wealth, service providers being disrupted and adviser business models changing, the average Australian adviser is fast becoming unrecognisable from just a few short years ago.
31 March 2021
The role the pandemic has played on the psyche of consumers and the management of their money bodes well for the financial planning industry.
Many consumers have realised that job security is not guaranteed, whilst others had the opportunity to re-evaluate their financial positions.
24/03/2021
As we go through this period of transformation for the industry and as the cost to participate in the financial advice profession increases with rising consumer demand, should we expect wage growth and higher practice values?
17 March 2021
The full effect of the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) is now playing out in the industry for both insurers and advisers. In 2020, the shift in remuneration, alongside the pandemic and policy repricing, saw a virtual tsunami hit the insurance industry.
10 March 2021
On 30 March 2020, the government announced a raft of welcome stimulus measures to avoid a catastrophic fallout from the economic impact of the pandemic.
One profession really stepped up to the plate – the advice profession.
With advisers working long hours to help new and existing clients, You would think if any profession was going to be looked on positively and with a sense of gratitude, it would be that of financial advisers.
3 March 2021
2020 was the year that adviser sentiment for life insurers hit fresh lows. In what has been an industry going through significant consolidation, the rise of new insurers may be seen as the rebirth of the sector. Tomorrow’s quarterly APRA results will show a sector under continued stress.
25 February 2021
With the world of platforms undergoing significant growth, HUB24, Netwealth and Praemium are the charmers of the equity markets right now.
We take a deeper look at the ever-expanding platform universe to reveal some commentary and reviews, provided by the advisers who use them.
17 February 2021
The Australian life insurance industry appears to face structural and legislative changes year after year, and much like the movie Greenland, there needs be a massive reset that is likely to have potential casualties along the way.
Read on as we dive into the details of our latest Financial Advice Landscape Study and reflect on the state of the retial life insurance industry.
10 February 2021
What is in the water cooler at ASIC? Or is there something strange in the air conditioning units of the shared offices frequented by our newest licensee entrepreneurs? Why has a two-year trend to fewer and larger licensees suddenly reversed?
3 February 2021
It was another cracking quarter, dominated by global events, major regulatory updates, and ongoing corporate actions. With a new year bringing more musical chairs for advisers and practices, we see the adviser population shrink by another 431, pushing numbers below 21,000
27 January 2021
In this current world of uncertainty - politically, economically, and in terms of COVID-19 - no doubt are you advising clients to prepare for the worst and hope for the best?
But are you approaching your own business future with the same degree of attention to the upside and downside scenarios?
13 January 2021
For many advisers, Christmas came early in December when the government announced the disbanding of FASEA, supporting a promising new narrative from Canberra about reducing red tape and lowering the cost of advice.
So what do advisers think the post-FASEA world will look like?
16 December 2020
Like the financial advisers themselves, the research house sector is a highly influential gatekeeper to money flows.
In this week's feature article, we breakdown some interesting perspectives that are emerging with the rise of direct investing and managed accounts in recent years, Corporate actions, COVID-19 review cycles and Gaggles...
9 December 2020
Can life get any more difficult for life insurers? Sales are down circa 10% for 2020 according to recent Plan For Life data and life insurers are playing a game of chicken with each other on repricing in order to get back towards profitability, although these premium step-ups have commenced and are understandably being met with great concern by advisers and their clients.
2 December 2020
With COVID-19 dominating this period and advisers working remotely under extreme pressure, it has really tested platform digital capabilities, commitment to further invest in technology excellence, and flexibility of BDM and operational support teams to maintain service levels. Arguably, all of these factors are influencing adviser sentiment.
26 November 2020
How well placed are advisers to implement and maintain an overarching investment approach for their business? One that can withstand the shocks from global market-moving events like COVID-19 and accommodate clients of many persuasions, biases and emotional responses during moments of crisis.
18 November 2020
The recent corporate actions at the big end of town – think IOOF-MLC, Clime-Madison, Hub24-Easton – and the increasing financial pressures on licensees to stay ahead of the game, haven’t deterred advisers from considering the self-licensing route. For many, the allure of independence from major institutions and starting afresh outweighs the inherent risks of striking out alone.
11 November 2020
With so much change sweeping through the licensee market, we decided to create a new classification system to better segment them into homogeneous “families” and to more clearly follow trends emerging in potential growth areas like industry funds and businesses concentrating on scaled advice under limited licence.
4 November 2020
It is times like these that Uncle Joe and Aunty Marg walk into a financial planner’s office squabbling about whether Armageddon is upon us and what you, their adviser, is bloody doing. And so 2020 rolls on…some of your clients will want you to be Nostradamus, will expound some alt-right theory with you, debate with you that with rates at 0.10% will drastically inflate house prices, argue that QE is too big and wallow in how a Biden presidency win will be disastrous for their investments. Welcome to the next few years! And oh, you will be pushed into buying gold, bitcoin or both.
28 October 2020
Are the murmurs around scaled advice finally the regulator and government’s way of acknowledging they went overboard on the compliance boxes a financial adviser needs to tick?
21 October 2020
Our Practice broker lead, Jason Shepherd has recently been discussing wealth book sales with an attached license and looked into our data to see what we can extract regarding licensee movements. We thought we would share what we found when looking at the year so far..
14 October 2020
With over 70% of advisers saying they would pay for leads, how much are they really prepared to stump up?
7 October 2020
Is it just our impression or is there is much (ongoing) ado about superannuation?
30 September 2020
Intra-fund advice is a topic that is at the forefront of the industry’s mind..
23 September 2020
The latest details from APRA regarding the Super early release scheme show that over $33.3 billion dollars has so far been paid out to applicants..
16 September 2020
IOOF will house the largest adviser network in the country with almost 1,900 advisers...
9 September 2020
Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?
It seems many advisers are waking up with that song in their head...
2 September 2020
IOOF will buy 100 per cent of MLC for $1.44 billion and make it the largest player in Australia’s wealth industry on current numbers...
26 August 2020
The AMP brand has faced mounting challenges since the Hayne Royal Commission...
19 August 2020
We look at the current considerations for bank lending to the wealth sector...
22 August 2020
The headline news is that advisers left the industry at an increasing rate during quarter 2 of 2020...
5 August 2020
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has proposed removing the requirement of producing an SOA with some advice...
29 July 2020
Advisers Take On AMP With Class Action...
22 July 2020
We look at more adviser PY experiences, and hear from a business that is placing new advisers with firms...
15 July 2020
We decided to take a look at how new advisers are coming into the industry...
8 July 2020
A new report from Industry Super Australia has found nearly half a million Australians have emptied their super accounts...
1 July 2020
The early access to super scheme has caused the ATO site to crash...