Legal profession model the future for advice

Speaking to ifa, Map My Plan founder Paul Feeney said the financial advice industry is under pressure to change and move away from existing business models.

“The cry is getting louder and louder for the separation of product and advice, the undertone there is that we have to start being an advocate for our clients first and foremost, and the vast majority of us are,” Mr Feeney said.

“We’ve got to take the approach that we’re just advocates for our clients’ wellbeing and try to help them achieve their goals, and along the way there may be one-off services or solutions that we need to provide to them, but we can’t be focused on transactions anymore, we need to focus on what the outcome is for them, and the by-product of that will be implementing strategies for them.”

Mr Feeney said one likely result of this is a shift in the way the industry operates, which will bring it more in line with the way the law industry runs.

“The way I see the industry going is to be much closer to the legal profession. You have a look there, they’ve got generalists, but then they’ve also got specialists with narrow, deep knowledge in one certain area, but they come together to create a firm that can deliver on anyone’s needs,” he said.

“We’ve got to be prepared to say ‘let’s allow people to go on this journey alone’ and be here as a resource that can help them when a live event or trigger happens that makes them need a certain service.”