Opt-in a threat to scoped advice: Hillross

Reaching into the scoped advice area is one of the fundamental changes at Hillross, and yet certain reforms could pose a threat, according to new managing director Hugh Humphrey.

The group rolled out a scoped advice tool to a few select practices last year to see whether it was of interest to clients, and the response was positive, said Humphrey.

 “Unsurprisingly we have a large number of clients who want to ring up and get a piece of advice around their superannuation, for example, and don’t necessarily want to go through estate, succession or tax planning and all those other things,” he said. “And we’re developing that capability. We’ve done holistic and complex advice well, but equally often clients only want a piece of advice at a point in time. So having the ability to break that down and offer simple tools is important.”

Humphrey said ongoing regulatory reform was an opportunity for dealer groups to look more closely at business practices and client needs, which had resulted in some significant shifts at Hillross. The move towards scoped advice was due to the group’s determination to make advice more accessible to more people, he said.

 “Sometimes people feel that advice remains the domain of wealthy people,” said Humphrey. “In fact it’s far from it. It would be rare to tell someone that financial advice is not appropriate to them and we look right across the spectrum.”

Humphrey said that while Hillross traditionally catered for the high-net-worth and mass affluent market, and therefore holistic advice would more often be appropriate to that segment, Hillross definitely saw an opportunity and need for scoped advice.

However, the one reform that Humphrey saw as a threat to its ambition to make advice more accessible and affordable was opt-in, which he said could impede the move towards more scoped advice packages.

Other changes to Hillross are centred on its growth strategy. Humphrey said while Hillross had traditionally targeted planners with considerable experience and a large book of clients, it was now more open to attracting young blood to help existing practices grow and to support their succession plans. Humphrey said Hillross had negotiated access to graduates from AMP’s Horizons Academy. While it has been a source of talent to support existing Hillross practices, the group has also engaged in practice start-ups through the academy. Humphrey said a number of practices were experiencing a return to growth after the global financial crisis, and needed the support of new recruits as well as greater support services from Hillross.