AMP’s Wade: Digital is critical



‘Digital is critical’ for the next generation of financial advice, according to AMP chief executive for Australian wealth management Alex Wade, as Australia lags behind the UK and US.
Speaking at the Money Management Future of Wealth Management and Advice conference in Sydney, Wade said digital would be ‘critical’ for firms in the future.
“Digital is solving the problem of under-advice in this country as the average Australian is priced out of face-to-face financial advice. Thousands of people are under-advised and we need to fill that void.
“We have seen growth of digital in the UK and in the US so Australia is far behind them. The opportunity here is massive,” he said.
Wade said digital could operate at both ends of the supply chain from those who didn’t have enough assets for face-to-face advice to those high net worth clients who were entirely self-directed.
He specifically referenced UK firms such as direct-to-consumer (D2C) firm Hargreaves Lansdown and private client firm St James’ Place as those that were filling the gap in the UK left when banks exited the advice space.
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