Adviser need for efficiency drives platform innovation

Platform technology has developed to the point where it can adapt to meet the evolving needs of advisers, including an opt in solution, according to Macquarie Adviser Services head of insurance and platforms Justin Delaney (pictured).

Delaney said advisers were looking for efficiency and for ways they could demonstrate value, giving them more face-to-face time with clients. In response, platforms and adviser-focused technology have been evolving steadily over the last 10 to 15 years, and Delaney said platform innovation has gotten to the point where Macquarie has the ability to respond to change such as the proposed opt in legislation. Delaney said it was possible to find a solution, although the hurdle was coming up with a process that worked efficiently.

Delaney said it was an unfair assumption that advisers were slow or reluctant to change, pointing to the tremendous take-up of Macquarie’s online applications in the last four years as evidence to the contrary.

“Advisers are hungry for change that will make their processes more efficient,” he said, adding that platforms have played a strong role in helping advisers adapt to regulatory reform and increasing compliance burdens.

Delaney said that Macquarie Wrap, for example, was also helping the boutique financial advisers cope in an increasingly demanding environment, as it provided them with scale. He added that Macquarie held a 17 per cent share in the platform market.

Delaney said his company was increasingly receiving feedback from advisers that needed to demonstrate value to their clients.

“Clients don’t appreciate the value that platforms deliver, for example, and the industry can do a lot more in helping advisers demonstrate that,” he said.