‘Practicide’ afflicts advisers

Many financial planners don’t like what they are doing and want to get out, but there are things they can do to change their attitudes, according to finance industry consultant Paul Resnik.

He points to US-based research and the coining of the term ‘practicide’, which refers to the life-draining impact some financial planning businesses have on their principals.

“Planners could stay in the old place and continue to be bored, but this [new approach] can add value to lots of people,” Resnik said.

His new round-table conference series offers an alternative business model for the industry, particularly boutique financial planners “who see that where they come from is a restricted space”.

Held in Sydney and Melbourne on September 12 and 21 respectively, Resnik and other speakers will facilitate discussion about a novel financial planning approach he terms the ‘total asset base’.

According to Resnik, our rapidly changing superannuation environment was the catalyst for this approach, which addresses individuals’ greater ability to access cash flows from a combination of super, savings and the family home.

Resnik describes the traditional Australian response to personal wealth as a ‘serial approach’ which focused on paying off a home loan, then boosting superannuation savings, and then relying on a combination of home equity and superannuation in retirement. Instead, he wants to educate financial planners about a cutting-edge ‘parallel approach’. “[It is about] maximising super, even at the expense of not paying out the house — you take a bit out of the house and a bit out of super and run a parallel portfolio,” he said.

Aside from the psychological factor of owning your own home, “[it is] no longer a valid value proposition to pay off the house”, argued Resnik.

Keynote speakers are from a variety of organisations and backgrounds, including Peter Hogan, ColonialFirstState, Don Stammer, Praemium, Michael Krnc, Stanford University, and Kevin Dutton, Australian Seniors Finance.

According to Resnik, the format differs from other seminars and conferences developed for the finance industry by using an interactive approach. Each presentation runs for a maximum of 30 minutes, with the bulk of each single-day session devoted to forums for delegates to discuss issues raised with their industry peers.

“I’ve only invited speakers who are cutting-edge thinkers. I asked each of them to convince and engage their audience,” he said. “The event is structured so that delegates have maximum opportunity to participate in the proceedings and interact with presenters and other attendees.”