The ifa Show

On a new episode of the ifa Show, host Neil Griffiths sits down with the co-founder and president of Aussie advice business management platform Practifi, Adrian Johnstone. Adrian joined the show to discuss the "data paradox", the benefits of M&As in the advice space, and how embracing technology can benefit advisers and firms. "So, integration is just so fundamental… but I think the firms, sometimes, it's easy to go the other way around," he said. "What are they missing out on if they don't? And of course, they're missing out on efficiency, they're increasing risk. They're adding cost to their businesses because they miss out on the scale benefits." On this episode, Adrian also discussed cyber security in advice and how technology can assist advisers' compliance and regulation concerns.

On this very special episode of the ifa Show, host Neil Griffiths is joined by the reviewer of the upcoming Quality of Advice Review, Michelle Levy. The Allens partner sat down to discuss the progress on the report, due out in December, and her opinion on the current state of the advice sector in Australia. "I think we need to make quite significant changes to the way financial advice and the provision of advice is regulated," she said. "I don't think it is a matter of just crossing a few things out. Now, is that realistic? I am hopeful that it is." Also on this episode, Michelle looks at some of the submissions put through industry groups, the role of regulators such as ASIC in improving the industry and her hopes for the recommendations that she'll put forward in December.

Zenith's head of consulting, Stephen Tang, joins a brand new episode of the ifa Show. On this episode, Stephen joins host Neil Griffiths to discuss the growing popularity of managed accounts and how the relationship between it and financial advisers has continued to grow in recent years. What started as a "novel idea" some years ago has now flourished and the COVID pandemic also accelerated the growth of managed accounts in the advice space. Only in recent years, Zenith managed roughly $1 billion in managed accounts under advice. Today, it manages $4.2 billion. "I think [the pandemic] was a good test moment for managed accounts," Stephen said. "People started to understand the real benefit of a managed account, [during] that COVID period clue. Really volatile time. Everything happened. "A really key benefit of a managed account, is that we were monitoring these on a daily basis, looking at the portfolios across our client base, and when we made changes, we did it across all our clients on the same day. That was the real key benefit. Everyone got the benefit of us making changes to the portfolios at the same time." On this episode, Stephen also discusses why advisers are continuing to turn to managed accounts, how they can use managed accounts to work through the current climate and how advisers can ensure portfolios stay resilient through uncertain times.

On a new episode of the ifa Show, host Neil Griffiths is joined by Nigel Baker, founder of digital solution, Scientiam. Nigel joined the podcast to discuss the issues that are stopping the advice industry from not only surviving, but thriving. "There's obviously been the whole shake-up of the financial planning industry and that was needed, but a lot of people don't trust the industry," he said. "Therefore, they go online and try and find things and get stuck with… maybe some of it's good, some of it's bad. So, really what we want [is] that regulatory framework to be able to enable that advice process." On this episode, Nigel also discusses his opinion on the upcoming Quality of Advice Review, Scientiam's submission to Treasury and what the future of advice looks like.

On a new episode of the ifa Show, host Neil Griffiths is joined by the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) CEO, Phil Anderson. On this episode, Phil discusses the AFA's Quality of Advice Review (QAR) submission, the association's opposition to some other submissions entered by industry groups, and why the QAR alongside the appointment of a new financial services minister signals a huge change for the sector. "I think the Quality of Advice Review is what is going to address the fundamental issues that we have at the moment with access and affordability of financial advice," Phil said. "I think all of them are hopefully going to contribute to what we would like to see, which is a return to growth in the advice market, and that means more advisers. We want to hold on to as many of the existing advisers as we can. We want a steady flow of new advisors into the market." He added: "I think we've got to a point where the demand for advice exceeds the supply. All the conversations I have suggest that people are not having any difficulty finding new clients, and some businesses are going really well." Listen to the full episode below.

Artificial intelligence, the metaverse… these are just some of the ever-present terms explained in this week's ifa Show podcast. Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by Dr Catriona Wallace, the executive director of the Gradient Institute, Adjunct Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management, and the founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance. Dr Wallace speaks about artificial intelligence, its pervasiveness in everyday life and why advisers need to pay more attention or risk being left behind. "In an average adviser's job, there's probably about 40 per cent of just mundane, admin, routine tasks that could in fact be done by an artificially intelligent machine software," Dr Wallace says. "We also know, on average, that an employee spends one day a week searching for information they need to do their job. AI can come in as almost a subject matter expert to provide information to advisers that they need to their job." Addressing fears that AI will replace jobs, Dr Wallace clears up the misconceptions. She also delves into the metaverse, what it is, what it means and why advisers should take note.

The benefits of managed accounts are the focus of this week's ifa Show podcast. As the use of managed accounts continues to grow, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is this week joined by HUB24 head of managed portfolios Brett Mennie, Elixir Consulting expert business strategist Graham Burnard, WOW Women Group founder and CEO Tracey Sofra and Private Wealth Partners financial adviser Damien Skidmore to discuss their biggest benefits. "Running a practice has now become quite complex, quite compliance burden-orientated. Costs have gone up in delivering advice to clients and advisers are looking for, within their practice, to become more efficient, looking at where their time is spent," said Mr Mennie. "Managed accounts solve that dilemma while also reducing risk in the practice, so it more systematises the practice." Combating the cost of delay, having professional management oversight and deepening the client relationship were among the key benefits highlighted by this week's guests. Ms Sofra and Mr Skidmore also shared their own perspectives on transitioning to managed accounts, while Mr Burnard stressed the importance of having a plan in place before making the jump.

Host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by AMP's chief economist who offers a little clarity to an otherwise murky investing environment. Rising inflation, lifting interest rates, stock market tumbles, the likelihood of a recession or perhaps a stagflation… Needless to say, current economic trends are troubling investors and their advisers. As such, ifa editor Maja invited Shane Oliver on the show to objectively evaluate our current economic predicament. Dr Oliver talks about why a recession can be avoided and shares his outlook for interest rates. He explains why he takes Philip Lowe's recession comments with a grain of salt and offers his view of the performance of the Reserve Bank, reflecting on its recent stubbornness on what would become an embarrassing error on 2024 rate rise. Dr Oliver provides some handy tips to scorched investors and explains why the best outcome for share markets would be a sharp slowdown in economic data.

ClearView managing director Simon Swanson joins this week's ifa Show podcast. After issuing its Quality of Advice Review (QAR) submission to Treasury this month, Mr Swanson joined host Neil Griffiths to talk about what he believes is the biggest issue in advice today – the simplification process. "The analogy I'd draw, is actually going to see a doctor, right? You go to see a doctor. The doctor says, 'How are you, Neil?' And you say, 'I've got a cold.' So you've actually self-diagnosed here. The doctor has actually not diagnosed. You've diagnosed yourself, right? "Then you have a conversation with a doctor who may say, 'You need a script', et cetera, et cetera. Does the doctor say, 'Look, I need to do a statement of advice. I need to recommend three different types of medicine to actually resolve your cold, flu, broken leg, whatever you've got. And then I need you to go away for a while I write up a statement of advice. And then I'd like you to come back in two weeks' time?' At which stage your broken leg is probably quite sore, right? It's just a crazy process. "We've got to be in the financial advice game." On this episode, Mr Swanson also dissects the survey that ClearView released alongside its QAR submission and his predictions for what the review will bring in December.