Planners who believe financial advice will remain single channel and delivered face to face are being naïve at the extent to which it will be altered and changed by technology and automated systems.
Decimal chief executive, Carolyn Colley, said that face to face advice will never be replaced, but the next generation of advice clients will be digitally aware and “planners would be naïve to think they will switch from digital delivery of other services to a single point of advice provided directly by a planner”.
“Planners can tend to think of their clients through their own eyes and if they see the next generation as switching to only face to face advice then that is a naïve view of that group of people,” Colley said.
“Face to face advice will have to be part of multi-channel strategy and it remains unlikely that financial advice can remain a single channel service.”
Colley said this had been recognised by larger players in the advice sector with established customer bases which were moving clients through a customer experience journey to retain or attract consumers seeking advice.
According to Colley retail and industry super funds were actively working on this and had market reach, customer loyalty and were leading the shift to ‘omni-channel’ financial advice and services.
“The bread, milk and eggs of financial advice is superannuation, insurance and retirement income and if a provider can nail those things then it has met the advice needs of most people,” Colley said
However larger groups, such as banks, superannuation funds and institutionally aligned planning groups, will not remain the sole players with large retailers and media companies also able to leverage off established customer bases to launch basic financial advice and products.
“Retailers could launch an advice play for the current or future clients of advisers. Coles and Woolworths are already in financial services and any further efforts would just side along their retail, liquor, hardware and petrol businesses,” Colley said.
The adoption of technology in the advice sector had stalled, Colley said, and up to the global financial crisis had focused on platforms and planning software but was back on the agenda for many planners who should be integrating technology into their entire advice proposition and business model and not overlay it as an add on.
“Those looking at a new advice model for the future are looking at new ways of doing things.”
