AMP-owned dealer group ipac is looking to further tap into the accumulator client segment by building advice capabilities to support this market.
The recently appointed ipac managing director Tim Steele said the group had identified advice areas and client segments it does not actively support or serve today, such as affluent professionals and young families.
“The accumulator segment is the most significant segment where we’re looking to try and build capability and advice offering to be able to support it,” Steele said. “That includes debt, risk and a low-cost super offering.”
ipac is also building a 'next generation’ advice model with the help of behavioural finance researchers based in the United States.
Steele said the dealer group was providing specific training for its advisers on how to identify and deal with different types of clients and client segments.
“In many cases, whilst [clients] are rational people, they behave irrationally when it comes to making decisions about their financial affairs,” Steele said.
“There’s a lot of training that we provide to advisers to increase their understanding of the different types of clients that we’ve had the opportunity to work with and how they might need to adjust their approach or style to ensure it’s a really engaging experience for the client,” Steele said.
ipac is working with researchers based in the US to ensure the group’s understanding of client behaviour was current.
“Behavioural finance is at the core of the academic rigour and research that underpins some of the assumptions that we’ve made in continuing to refine the way in which we engage with clients and the way in which we deliver advice to clients,” Steele said.
As part of a broader strategy, ipac is actively working with a few of the so-called “micro client segments”.
“The family law is a relatively new area for us where we’re building relationships with law firms across the country to be able to support their clients who might have a settlement as a result of divorce and then we will help them plan and use those funds to support their lives and families,” Steele added. “Family law is an area of significant opportunity and demographically, aged care is very significant.”
