Good advice stories remain untold

If there were well known stories about the value of advice, the political battles that the financial planning industry faces might be easier, according to Financial Wisdom general manager Mark Ballantyne (pictured).

Ballantyne took the leadership role in April at around about the time the proposed Future of Financial Advice reforms were released. Since then, his main focus has been on painting a picture and educating advisers about the changes that the group can expect in the new regulatory environment. He has also been encouraging his planners to write to their local newspapers to promote the good news stories that come out of the advice planners provide to the public.

“There are just wonderful stories out there about what financial planners do for their communities, and it’s just not well known,” he said. “If we had more of those stories well known by local members, the political process here would be a bit different.”

In a revenue-constrained environment, Financial Wisdom has utilised cost-effective services such as Colonial First State’s Advice Essentials phone-based advice. However, Ballantyne said investing in client relationships and helping planners communicate the value of the advice they provided was important. Ballantyne said that it was not a case of running a big advertisement that illustrated the value of advice, but rather helping his advisers get more referrals.

“And that’s all about telling that story,” he said.

In terms of preparing Financial Wisdom advisers for regulatory change, Ballantyne said a lot of time was being spent talking to advisers about where they were today or painting a picture of what was needed to be a “sustainable, successful and valuable business post 2012”. This process involved conducting national adviser seminars, briefings, and face-to-face meetings to help advisers decide where they wanted to take their business as well as providing them with the materials to do so, said Ballantyne.

Again, he referred to the quality of client relationships as the key to sustainability.

“If you’ve got good client relationships where those clients know what fees you’re charging, they’re happy with the value you give and they keep telling their friends about it. That means you’ll get more clients, which means you will be more sustainable and more valuable,” he said.