‘No client left behind’: Digital advice poised to fill unadvised gap

With the high cost of advice keeping young Australians locked out of advice, a fintech provider has said digital advice is key to capturing this next generation of clients.

As the intergenerational wealth transfer gets underway and demand for advice grows, addressing the accessibility of advice has become a top priority for the industry and government in recent years.

However, with the average annual advice of $4,668 per client, according to Adviser Ratings 2025 Australian Financial Advice Landscape report, professional advice has become largely out of reach for many Australians, though it is important to recognise that not everyone needs fully comprehensive advice. 

DASH said an estimated 2.6 million Australians are understood to want advice, but are unable to access it due to cost, complexity, or a lack of available advisers.

On top of this, onerous compliance requirements have essentially put a cap on advisers’ available time and thus their capacity to see more clients.

Looking at how advice firms could address the growing demand for advice, DASH Technology Group head of digital advice, Cameron O’Sullivan, suggested that digital advice could offer some much-needed relief on this front.

Having moved beyond a ‘nice to have’ offering for practices, O’Sullivan said digital advice is “the only scalable, compliant way” to deliver advice to this cohort of unadvised Australians. 

This can come in a variety of models, he said, creating a tiered offering that allows businesses to meet different levels of complexity and advice needs.

With traditional comprehensive advice reserved for clients with more complex needs who require deeper technical and strategic advice, businesses could also provide a digital advice offering of client-only digital tools at the other end of the spectrum that target simple, self-directed advice scenarios.

In the middle of these two options, O’Sullivan explained, is “hybrid advice”, where advisers use advanced digital tools to facilitate faster and more consistent advice delivery or technology to act as a “triage tool” to help transition clients from self-directed to more complex advice services.

“Clients should be able to move between these channels seamlessly, with referrals triggered automatically by system logic or manually by the client or adviser. This triaged, modular experience reduces cost, improves engagement, and supports best-interest obligations. It provides a clear pathway into full comprehensive advice when needed,” O’Sullivan said.

This tiered offering, O’Sullivan said, gives “those with lower balances – who may not yet be ready for a full comprehensive service but still want guidance – access to practical, affordable, and relevant advice at the right time in their financial journey”.

“By filtering clients based on needs, balances, and readiness, triaging allows advice businesses to service lower-balance clients affordably while reserving comprehensive services for those who require it and can afford it. This creates a scalable model where no client is left behind – even those who would traditionally fall through the cracks can still receive meaningful, fit-for-purpose guidance,” O’Sullivan said.

Finding a way to meet the growing demand has become even more crucial now, as O’Sullivan raises concerns over the rise of “finfluencers and ChatGPT as sources of financial advice”.

Notably, research by Capital Group found that some 27 per cent of women said they would seek investment guidance from social media over a professional adviser, while 15 per cent of men admitted to doing so.

Capital Group head of asset class services for Europe and Asia Pacific, Alexandra Haggard, said it is important for advice firms to adjust to meet the needs of women in the “great wealth transfer”. 

“Many women turn to social media and finfluencers for financial guidance, but as their financial needs grow more complex, professional advice becomes more crucial. As the ‘great wealth transfer’ unfolds, the wealth management industry must adapt to the rising influence of women in wealth,” Haggard said.

The Next Generation research from Fidelity released earlier this year also found that more than 50 per cent of women said they don’t seek advice because they are concerned about the cost, and women were generally more concerned about the fees and charges on investments (61 per cent) compared to men (55 per cent).