Fund managers need to get their act together this year  - they still control the industry at this stage and in essence pay financial planners.

The public is demanding clearer fee structures from fund managers and this will be one of the major issues of 1999. Commissions need to be more transparent and MERs are too high. On a side note, the FPA really need to flex their muscles more. They are a huge part of the industry and people need to know who they are. The FPA profile needs to be raised.

Steve Keal, senior financial planner, Advisor Investment Services, Hobart

There are a lot of technological changes that we're all aware of in the market, but getting the appropriate technology provides a challenge. There is also a need to keep abreast of investment horizons and the impact of globalisation -whole rafts of new products are coming through in areas such as infrastructure. Pricing is also a big issue for planners - investment services now available on the Internet will more than likely affect this. It will also be very important to continue building and managing our team, especially since we are competing with the banks for clients.

Tim Marshall, senior consultant and practice principal, Godfrey Pembroke, Brisbane

The stockmarket and legislation are the two key issues for me in 1999. Economists spent last year predicting the possibility of a bear market in the US, but the last time I checked the American market, it had closed on an all-time high. This concerns me as many American mums and dads have poured billions of dollars into US mutual funds without realising the risk. The bull market in the US cannot go on unabated and my concern lies with small investors - there could be a substantial blowout if there is a market correction and they panic.

While Australia has been largely immune to the Asian economic crisis, a bear market in the US would be a different matter. The question for an adviser is: how conservative do you go? In hindsight, clients did not receive the full advantage of equity returns last year as planners were holding money in cash while waiting for the correction that hasn't happened yet. There are also difficulties posed by government legislation, as advisers have to plan a client's portfolio when legislation is pending without knowing whether it will be passed or not. This is frustrating for advisers, and planning someone's portfolio on a moving playing field places them at risk. There could be legal ramifications if you get it wrong.

Tim Walkerden, director, partner and principal, Walkerden Clark Financial Planning, Melbourne

The two most pressing issues this year will be volatility in the markets and the need for ongoing communications with clients. This year we'll see very volatile markets around the world, so planners will need to hold their clients' hands and talk them through the volatility. This will mean constantly checking that their needs are being met, which will test advisers in two ways. Firstly, there is a time constraint - when the markets are fluctuating, advisers tend to spend a lot of time talking to fund managers rather than talking to clients. Secondly, advisers will have to improve their customer service skills. This profession is largely based on attracting new customers and gaining commissions, but there is a need for advisers to service all their clients, not just the new ones.

Suresh Rajan, director, SMCR Financial Planners, Perth

The primary challenge facing our firm this year is being able to provide our clients with accurate reporting at the time the clients want it. We are in the process of installing new hardware and software and we've also created our own wrap account, called SmartPLAN. We are now able to focus on offering strategic financial planning advice, which is the key service clients are paying us for.

This leads to the second major challenge: getting the message to clients on what our value-adds really are. We need to differentiate ourselves from the plethora of service providers in the marketplace, and with our back office under control we should be able to deliver on this. Differentiating your company from others makes the client aware of what they are being charged for.

Simon Ackland, managing director, Personal Financial Planners, Perth