Riskies broadening advice beyond insurance: poll

In Risk Adviser’s latest straw poll, 21 (55.3 per cent) of the 38 respondents surveyed said they were offering advice beyond insurance after LIF was passed through Parliament earlier this year.

Seventeen respondents (44.7 per cent) said they were not broadening their advice beyond life insurance.

ClearView head of strategic advice Allison Dummett told Risk Adviser that some advisers are expanding into the estate planning space.

“Some very good insurance advisers, particularly where the client has a business, will look at things like testamentary trusts or business succession plans with insurance,” Ms Dummett said.

“They have links to an estate plan and so sometimes there’s a path for insurance advisers going down a path where they tell the client, ‘We now need to link that with legal advice’.”

Ms Dummett said that, provided there is a client need, advisers possess the expertise to assist them even though that advice may not be directly related to a financial product.

"They need to help the client formulate a strategy. I think those areas of advice will be growth areas and I think those advisers who are nimble in helping clients on a fee-for-service basis in those areas, I think they will thrive,” she said.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].