‘Focus on what we can do’: Making changes on the individual level

Appearing on the latest episode of The ifa Show, Rising Tide Financial Services’ managing director and senior financial adviser, Matt Hale, explained that advisers need to focus their collective efforts on the big issues and the changes they can make on an individual level.

With the first tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) bill only recently passed and the second expected to be developed over the coming months, Hale has urged advisers to consider what they can achieve on an individual level to reduce the cost to serve and improve efficiency in their own practices.

“There’s an election at some point during that period, so for us it’s, ‘Let’s focus on what we can do. Let’s try to become more efficient. Let’s try to do more advocacy to get more good people into the industry, which can help service more Australians’. And I’m sure there’ll be some inevitable benefits from it,” he said.

“But I certainly don’t hang the success of a future Rising Tide on what changes from a legislative point of view.

“Our philosophy with any regulatory change is, until it’s stamped, delivered and executed, it is purely for us to wait for.”

’Unity’ among advisers

However, Hale praised the profession for its efforts in campaigning against the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) and some of the recently proposed legislative changes, saying advisers displayed a greater level of unity “than any time during the last 17 years”.

“We’ve seen it over the past few weeks, but realistically, over the past couple of years, I think that’s been done really well and it will serve the industry fantastically,” Hale said.

“I don’t think there was ever a lack of effort but I think the execution was limited because of those conflicting opinions and beliefs and even the logos that people worked under.”

Hale added that, while he believes the government likely acts with the best of intentions, they often fail to consider the big picture implications of some legislation.

“I think they generally try, but I suppose like a lot of political arguments, I don’t think they necessarily really understand the intricacies, but also the butterfly effect of a lot of their decisions. Not just now, but into the future,” he said.

Furthermore, he explained that financial advice can often be treated as “a bit of a political football” by government officials, while also getting lumped in with other professions within the financial sector and thus fails to address the unique issues impacting the advice profession.

“I think until the Australian government, whoever is in power, consistently accepts that financial advice is a really valuable part of helping Australians to achieve their ‘Yes’ moments and achieve peace of mind. I think until they really commit to it, we’re going to continue to see these political narratives that have been going ever since I joined,” Hale said.

He explained that, in order for the profession to achieve change, advisers need to “continue that unity” and “just try to have a few wins, not try to create too much noise”.

Hale added: “Simplify it. One or two things we want to achieve at a time and focus on that, and then really celebrate those wins. I’m really interested to see how the next tranches come out.”