The ifa Show

Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by the winner of Fintech Leader of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards and head of the wealth channel at myprosperity, Karolina Kuszyk, to talk about her win and what to expect from advice technology in the coming year. Talking to Maja, Ms Kuszyk spoke about how technology providers can ease the advice burden. "2023 is going to be the year of technology where a lot of firms are going to sit down and actually look at this." "I think it's important to actually understand what is out there and then make your own judgement on what you think will suit your business best." Ms Kuszyk added that she believes advisers will be turning their focus on mobile apps. "Out of the last hundred thousand client logins [on myprosperity], almost 70 per cent of them were through the mobile app, not through the desktop browser. Whereas four years ago, that was 40 per cent. So you can imagine in another two years what that percentage is going to be." Looking further into the future, Ms Kuszyk said "technology is only as good as the adviser actually uses it". Tune in to hear more, including Ms Kuszyk's message for advisers looking to exit the industry.

Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by the CEO of WOW Women's Group, Tracey Sofra, to chat about the changing landscape of advice and why self-care is more important than ever. Speaking to Maja, Ms Sofra talked about how client expectations are shifting to reflect the changing global environment. "There is no panic. It's just: "What do we do now, Trace? What's our next move?" "As the professional people that we are, we are holding their hands and guiding them through the maze of life I suppose, and trying to get them to where they want to go. And I take it really, really seriously." But along this journey, Ms Sofra said that advisers too, need to make sure that they are adapting and modernising their advice. "We've got to adapt and evolve because the world's changed forever. It's never going to go back." On the topic of self-care, Ms Sofra asked advisers "If you're not well, how do you advise somebody else?" "You've got to provide advice with your own conviction and yeah, you've got to be in a really good place yourself."

The financial services industry has historically been male-dominated but encouraging more women into the space is not only good for society, but good for business too. In this episode, partnered by Mortgage Choice, Anthony Waldron, chief executive of financial services and Mortgage Choice at the REA Group, outlines how the industry can move away from being "male, stale and pale" and encourage more women into the space. Tune in to find out:

• The barriers that might be holding back female representation
• What can be done to encourage diversity in industry
• Why Mortgage Choice is partnering with the Women in Finance Awards 2022

And much more!

Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by 9Rok Consulting's Kim Payne to chat about what advisers shouldn't be doing if they want to be more valuable. Speaking to Maja, Ms Payne said advisers first need to ensure they have "the basics right", noting that everything — even how they greet a client — influences their perceived value. "There are so many little things, it's not even the big stuff that needs to be focused on. Sometimes it's just the little stuff. And the 'how are you' is a really good example, because we get on autopilot so much," Ms Payne said. Ms Payne also offers her tips to help you exercise your creativity.

Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by AMP's chief economist who makes sense of the government's latest recession rhetoric. We appear to be drowning in recession rhetoric; as such, Maja is joined by Dr Shane Oliver, who offers some much-needed clarity on our economic predicament. Dr Oliver talks about the dangers of "talking ourselves into a recession", offers his outlook for interest rates, and explains the predicaments surrounding the government's first budget, as well as why we can't compare ourselves to the UK and their market meltdown. He also takes a deep dive into current market movements and offers some handy tips to over-anxious investors and advisers on how to help their clients in today's murky environment. Moreover, Dr Oliver addresses the Reserve Bank's latest warning regarding cyber crime and climate change.

On this week's podcast, we're joined by Adele Martin, founder of My Money Buddy and the Savings Squad podcast.

Adele sits down with host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic to discuss the importance of raising awareness on how financial advice can better our lives and why it's fundamental to our wellbeing.

Adele explains why advice should be a service that everyone has access to.

"I remember a client that I worked with once, he was quite stressed about money; he was having his second baby, he was on some medication for his anxiety. Once we got his finances sorted — got them out of the credit card debt — he stopped taking his own anxiety medication and he contributed that to getting his finances sorted," Adele shares.

She also talks about the power of social media and how advisers can expand their reach considerably using a few simple techniques.

The conversation also turns to the all-important Quality of Advice Review, as Adele shares how she feels about some of the more talked-about recommendations.

This week's ifa Show podcast is joined by Dr Paul Moran, the principal of Moran Partners Financial Planning and the founder and CEO of iFactFind. On this episode, Paul sits down with host Neil Griffiths to discuss the need for standards and protocols in financial planning and how that relates to self-regulation. "It would make it easier to teach financial planning to people because they're learning the protocols. It would make it easier for the regulator because they would be able to make a quick judgement, had the protocols been followed, and in the court system," he explained. "And then from a client point of view, they're getting more certainty for what we do. And then that doesn't change the interpersonal relationship, the values-based approach we take. It doesn't change all of that sort of stuff that we do now, but the outcomes that we are producing become more known and more measurable in that regard." Also on this episode, Paul discusses if the advice industry is currently in a position to self-regulate, the pros and cons of the Quality of Advice Review proposal paper and what the sector could look like if it implements standards and protocols.

In this exclusive interview with shadow financial services minister and former assistant treasurer, Stuart Robert MP, the editor of ifa's sister brand, The Adviser — Annie Kane — finds out what the Morrison government really thinks about Michelle Levy's Quality of Advice recommendations.

The former assistant treasurer talks about the royal commission and its impact on advisers, and why he thinks it has been "for the most part, unhelpful". He also admits that the industry should "own its own education requirements" and labels the possible return of super funds to advice "a retrograde step", adding that "super should stick to super".

Tune in to find out:

On a special episode of the ifa Show podcast, host Neil Griffiths is joined by Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) CEO Sarah Abood and the CEO of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), Phil Anderson, to talk about the association's intended merger announced earlier this month.

Sarah and Phil sat down with Neil to talk about how long the merger has been in the works, what it means for members and why now is the right time for the groups to come together.

"Obviously, the recent reduction in planning numbers has played a part, and it's made us on both sides, I think, think really deeply about what is the best way to use members' funds and how can we ensure that our members are going to continue to be represented effectively," Sarah explained.

"So, I think those are the key reasons, but we certainly feel that a merger is the logical next step. We can combine the resources of both the associations and really importantly, create a united voice and stronger advocacy for financial planners and advisers."

On this episode, Sarah and Phil also discussed intentions for how the new association will operate, including staff appointments, and how the upcoming Quality of Advice Review will impact the association and industry.

On a new episode of the ifa Show, host Neil Griffiths is joined by senior financial adviser at Tribeca Financial and Ethos Australia director, Nathan Fradley.

Nathan joined this week's podcast to talk about the human side of financial advice and why the "best" advisers are focusing on financial wellbeing behaviours and coaching over products.

"If you think about traditional advice, a bit of technical competency and goal setting, it's like: 'Can you meet this goal? Oh, we put a million dollars in this portfolio. You get $50 grand a year. You can retire. Check.'

"I think the best advisers now, the ones setting the standard, are saying: 'What does it look like in 10 years for you from a social interaction perspective? How are you gaining your social needs once you're retired? Or how are you building meaningful connection with your friends and family? What are you doing from a sense of purpose and how do we facilitate that and money being a tool to enable that?'

"And that connection becomes far more than just: 'Well, they did my super and insurance.' That's the hygiene, that's the easy stuff. This becomes really understanding who we're working with, intrinsically caring for them and to a point where we are taking what they say is important and what they do, and we are combining those two things to be the same, in the same direction."

On this episode, Nathan also discusses how finfluencers fit into the "human side" of advice conversation, what advice will look like in the future if its properly adopted by advisers and his views on the proposals for the upcoming Quality of Advice Review.