Standard of advice professionalism lifting ‘higher and higher’

Takeaways from 2024

How has the profession grown over the year?

Like each year before it, I see the standard of advice professionalism lift higher and higher – more advisers are recognising their value is more than just product or strategy, and is in the ability to connect, understand, empathise and deliver for their clients.

What was the most significant thing (good or bad) to come out of this year?

Bad: CSLR and grandfathering Dixon shamozzle.

Good: The Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice Podcast.

What was the biggest achievement for the profession this year?

Tax deductibility of advice – I think the profession hasn’t come to realise just how substantial this will be, once we get our head around it.

How do you wind up business for the year?

Close the books to new clients after the first week of December, hopefully close out all work by the second week.

Outlook on 2025

How are you feeling about the year to come?

Optimistic from a business perspective, or at least one that specialises in aged care and divorce – whether that’s a great societal trend, at least my clients can get great support!

What are you hoping to come out of next year?

I’d like to see DBFO (or whatever they end up calling it) get finalised, so they can leave us alone – just for like, a few years.

What are your thoughts as we go into an election year?

Politicians promise what they can never deliver.

What do you think needs to be a top priority for 2025?

I’d love to see advisers niche more and more. I’m not talking about only working in a section of advice, or a speciality, but understanding the common factors amongst their existing clients and getting better and finding their ideal clients, and their ideal clients finding them. In time that can lead to a lot more cross referrals between advisers, where the right client finds the right adviser.

What is your main goal as an adviser for the coming year?

Build on the momentum from 2024; starting again and in a speciality took a bit of tinkering around the edges, but I feel I have a really good flow now and can articulate “what I do” and “for who” really well.

Overarching thoughts

What do you think is the biggest issue currently impacting the profession and what could be done to address it?

Poor operators phoenixing and leaving the bill for the rest of us. I don’t understand corporations law well enough to have an answer, but if it can be done once, it can be done again and again.

What is a small issue that impacts you or your business – one that is outside your control – that could be easily fixed? How?

Social and professional isolation of the single [authorised representatives] – which can be solved by finding and regularly catching up with other like-minded excellent single ARs.

Is there anything else you think is important that you would like to share with the advice community?

I think we will continue to see a trend of single ARs going out on their own. It’s not ideal because it further pushes us away from scalability but it is a signal that there are a lot of professionals who don’t feel comfortable providing advice in larger organisations, who believe it can be done better.