A senior executive of a wealth management platform provider has called for the advice community to look beyond its own commercial success in order to allow more Australians to access the financial planning services they require.
“The advisers that we deal with are typically set. There’s more demand than supply, they have thriving business models, the industry is professionalised [and] they’re delivering great advice,” Hub24 chief executive Andrew Alcock acknowledged during a panel session at the AFR Super & Tax Summit 2022 held in Sydney today.
“[But] the question for them and the rest of the industry is are they okay in their segment and is that all they need to do versus do we look at the whole [advice] segment?”
In order to formulate a better advice model and solution for a greater part of the Australian public, practitioners need to recognise the reason for their commercial success, but also reflect on how they can help people through their wealth-building journey, Alcock said.
He suggested this did not mean the practitioners themselves having to engage with consumers at the entry level to advice, but rather recognise the role they can play in conjunction with other mediums such as TikTok that may lead them to personal advice channels.
The financial advice industry runs the danger of evolving in the wrong direction should an appreciation of the macro situation not develop, he warned.
“I think that part of the market [servicing more high net worth clients] is set right now. [But] we run the risk of having a polarised market,” he noted.
“The business that I run isn’t necessarily chasing direct to consumers [delivery], but there’s a gap there for us as an industry to think about and we need to find new models that deliver advice efficiently and effectively and technology has a great role to play there.”
He pointed out there is a role to play in the process for every participant in financial services, including superannuation funds, platform providers and advice groups.
