The 'crucial piece' missing in the adviser-client relationship QAR must address

The upcoming review should consider the potential inclusion of a positive duty on financial advisers to ask whether their clients have ethical or religious requirements, Hejaz Financial Services COO Muzzammil Dhedhy has argued.

In its submission to Treasury, Hejaz advocated that the requirement would assist advisers when creating portfolios and what products to include or exclude.

Speaking to ifa, Mr Dhedhy said clients are increasingly paying more attention to their investments with recent research from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) showing that four in five Australians now expecting their money to be invested ethically and responsibly.

“A crucial piece of the client-adviser relationship has been missing though which involves an upfront, values-based conversation. To really know our clients, we must understand what motivates them beyond the highest returns and lowest fees," Mr Dhedhy said.

"Investment in companies that undermine animal welfare or support live exports would be upsetting for a vegan client for example, while crypto investing goes against Islamic finance principles around risk."

In the QAR submission, Hejaz said that servicing "previously underrepresented demographics" would also encourage greater access to financial advice.

“Client engagements should begin with questions around long-term financial and ethical goals," Mr Dhedhy explained.

"As an industry, we need to articulate the value of advice more clearly and show that we understand what’s important to our clients — perhaps through a positive duty to ask.”

Mr Dhedy's comments come after Morningstar Investment Management issued a white paper in May which looked at the adviser-client relationship and what makes someone trust a financial adviser, outlining that “the best-interest standard is paramount”. 

“One attribute clearly rises above the rest: ‘When my adviser acts in my best interest.’ The overwhelming support for this attribute reiterates the importance of the fiduciary standard in advising,” the paper read.

Morningstar said it found that “trust, delegation and recommendations” came from cognitive-based actions, such as expertise and communication over affective-based actions such as concern and integrity.

“Our findings indicate that a person’s willingness to trust, delegate, and recommend an adviser likely has the same underlying drivers, as evident by the similarities between the average ranking of attributes,” Morningstar said.

Hejaz's submission, like many other groups in the advice sector, called for the "regulatory burden" to be addressed in a bid to reduce the cost of advice for Australians.

The QAR, to be conducted by Michelle Levy, will be provided to the government by 16 December this year.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.