By Ross Kelly
Financial planners are happier now with the performance of their dealer group than at any other time over the past two years.
A new survey has found advisers are happier with the amount of professional indemnity (PI) cover they get, how much they get paid, and the quality of training and development they receive.
The results, from management consulting group WA Taylor’s 2004 Dealership survey, were based on responses by 899 advisers from 150 different dealers.
Twenty performance factors were used to determine adviser satisfaction including PI insurance, adviser remuneration, technical services, training and development, practice management services, software support, promotional material and leads. Each factor was given a mark out of 100 by each respondent (see table).
All of these factors were combined to produce the overall score. For 2004, planners gave their dealerships a combined score of 70, three points up on the 2003 score of 67 and two points up on the score for 2002.
As was the case in 2003, PI insurance was ranked by advisers as the most crucial service, followed by adviser remuneration, training and development, technical support and dealership services.
WA Taylor operations manager Peter Driscoll said the good result for dealers could be partly attributed to Financial Services Reform (FSR).
“The survey is done in November each year, and at that time in 2003 everyone was really in the thick of FSR preparations and a lot of people were pretty disturbed.”
Although acknowledging FSR transition may have improved sentiment, Associated Planners deputy director Andrew Creaser believes that better investment markets last year may have been more responsible.
“Where advisers’ clients are generally happy because of buoyant markets, advisers are more likely to be objective about the services being provided by their dealer. I’m trying not to sound flippant, but I’m quite sure that whilst clients are buoyant, everything else is a bit easier,” Creaser said.
Managing director of Financial Services Partners Geoff Rimmer said: “Part of [the higher score] would be a restoration of productivity out of FSR. But I also think that the dealer groups that argue their proposition on value rather than price are starting to get traction.”
