More focus on client portfolios needed
After another intensive regulatory year, financial advisers may finally need to go back to their roots and focus on the providing advice, according to Lifespan Financial Planning.
The company’s chief executive, Eugene Ardino, said advisers would in particular have to help their clients manage the impact of market volatility on their portfolios.
Ardino said that assuming there would be no more regulatory changes and once the transition period during which many advisers would be moving to fixed term arrangements with their clients would be over, there would be some time for advisers to go back to advice, servicing clients, and finding solutions in the challenging environment.
“[One of the] big themes that is going to play out this year is going to be stock market volatility and normalising interest rates and the impact of that on client portfolios and how to minimise the fallout and make it as painless as possible for clients,” he said.
“I think a lot of people were expecting the share market to go a little bit higher last year. That obviously did not happened, so I think a lot of advisers now are start looking at the portfolio construction and try to make sure that they are positioning well for what could be a very turbulent year.”
Ardino stressed that the sheer volume of all the compliance changes in one go worked as an obstruction to the main thing the advisers should be spending their time on.
“Barring any more structural or procedural changes, this could be the year when we just sort of get on with it and go back to our main focus being our clients and advice,” he said.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
