Exiting planning because it’s just unattractive
Sometimes people just exit the financial planning arena because the underlying regulatory environment and other factors become too problematic.
And that is what broadly resulted in the departure of two firms run by Certified Practice Accountants last year, prompting a dealer group head to caution that a number of factors are serving to reduce the attractiveness of financial planning as a business and career option.
Premium Wealth Management chief executive Paul Harding-Davis said he was aware of two businesses run by CPAs which had decided to exit planning last year mostly because they believed it had become an unappealing and difficult business proposition.
He said that while, on the surface at least, the firms had left for reasons such as one owner accepting an offer for the business while the principals of another opted to largely drop planning to focus on finance and property, the reality in each of the cases was that the business principals had made an assessment of the challenges and complexities confronting them in the financial planning space and had opted to exit.
"I know there are many people still highly attracted to financial planning, but I don't think we can afford to ignore the reasons why people are choosing to exit," Harding-Davis said.
He said one of the most unfortunate facts was that all of the players who had chosen to depart the planning sector involved quality people with considerable talents and expertise.
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