BACK in the 1950s the future was seen as a time of jet-powered cars, plastic clothes and holidays on the moon. Far fetched, but given the potential of science and technology at the time, understandable to a degree.
We now live in that future and are well aware these ideas never quite developed, but do we hold similar notions of the future of financial planning?
This edition ofMoney Managementconsiders the financial planner of the future. Those who were contacted believe that the industry, while growing and increasing in stature, will not develop along the same lines as those in the 50s imagined their future world.
Rather, the industry would not be dissimilar to what we see today, at least in terms of what planners do, the tools they use and the competencies they bring to bear.
This should really come as no surprise. Looking back at the past 15 years to 1987, the year in whichMoney Managementkicked off, the industry has made some big strides, but very few of these came by themselves, rather they were incremental and in many cases built on the work of those who had come before.
The future will continue that pattern with the only chance of massive change coming from the one-off, big bang events, which many feel are becoming less likely as the industry matures and fills the space it is making for itself.
So, what will the planner of the future actually look like? Much the same as today, but they will be better educated. They will be further removed, at least in practice if not in an actual physical sense, from the large, external influences of the owners of product and distribution.
Future planners will also operate across a wider range of products and advice, branching out into new areas they have not yet considered and will be the peak, and possibly only, contact a person has in seeking long-term, consistent financial planning advice.
And what will drive all this? Not the product providers, platform administrators or even the owners of distribution. The driver of all this change will be consumers. Despite the fact they are at the end of the value chain, they still pay the bills and, as such, wield the greatest power.
Any planner sitting in their office in 2002 and thinking they can survive the next three years, let alone the next 10, and ignore that fact will suffer heavily.
Consumers know what they want, are well aware of what they now get and will seek to redress any imbalance. Those who stand in the way of that groundswell, regardless of size, will only be cast aside. If you don’t believe it, try to find those companies from the 50s that did not respond to consumer demand, it will be an amusing distraction while clients leave to find people who will provide the services they require.
