The ability to attract clients and talent crucial to business growth

Freshwater Wealth founder Roger Perrett told ifa that “structural changes in the advice market”, namely the high demand for advice and shifting employment standards for advisers, have created a fertile ground for those in the profession looking to grow.

“There’s just so much demand for advice, we don’t have enough people or enough advisers. There’s plenty of clients, and then if an adviser does leave, clients really, really, really treasure their relationship and often follow their adviser,” Perrett said.

With the number of advisers almost halving since 2018, the ability to attract and retain staff has become critical for advice firms looking to grow.

“There used to be, you know, your advice firms used to attract advisers and then almost shackle them, wouldn’t let them go, and have contracts and non-solicitation clauses,” Perrett said.

“With those few high-profile cases, it’s really become evident those shackles aren’t really working. Businesses can’t employ those strategies anymore.”

Furthermore, while the advice industry was dominated by institutional firms in the past, Perrett noted that the shift to a small business market in recent years has given advisers more choices when it comes to deciding where to work, allowing them to choose based on personal preference rather than necessity.

“Nowadays it’s just so, so much more fractured. Advisers have got so much choice now in terms of, depending on the brand, the clients they want to work with, and even the culture they want to work in,” he said.

“I think culture is a big one. You’re spending the majority of the time with either the other people in the team or the clients, right? So, you want to really enjoy working with the clients that the firm is trying to attract.”

As such, Perrett suggested that a firm’s marketing strategy is critical to attracting not only their ideal clients but also well-suited financial advisers.

“We really believe that people don’t come to us with financial advice, they’re coming to us for a lifestyle, a great retirement lifestyle, and financial advice is just the tool to get them there,” he said.

“I think that’s another lever as well to attract and retain staff, where people can really see the marketing, the messaging, and really get an affinity to that.”

As a result of these market conditions, Freshwater has expanded its workforce significantly, including seven financial advisers and growing its support team to 15 full-time staff members, “expanding its advice network by 600 per cent in less than 12 months”, despite the firm only being established in late 2023.

Capitalising on the momentum, Freshwater has recently welcomed Ben Shaw to the Sydney team and Karmel Walker who has expanded the firm’s offering, setting up shop on the Sunshine Coast.

“We really wanted to make a play in that geography, just because there’s so many people who retire and end up in that part of the world or that part of Australia and we really wanted to have some presence there,” Perrett said.

“We’re already talking to people in other states. They’re not official yet, but hopefully down the track. We’ve had great growth and we’ve still got a strong pipeline of clients as well as advisers reaching out to us, which is great.”