Financial planners need to review their business structure - Johnstone
Sequential Project Services has announced that its new targeted review product is now being used by AMP Financial Planners Association (AFPA), Hillross Advisers Association (HAA) and General Insurance Advisers Association (GIAA) to help their members adapt to the current financial industry environment.
According to Sequential, the Business Insights program is helping licensees plug the holes in their businesses which have been left by market changes and regulatory reform.
Sequential managing director Adrian Johnstone said financial planners are often committed first to servicing their clients before considering the effect that market changes and regulatory reform will have on their business.
"Their businesses are leaky boats because they're spending such large amounts of time worrying about compliance and they're not getting the time they need to worry about their businesses and servicing their clients," Johnstone said.
As part of the independent review undertaken by Sequential, Johnstone said he often sees a lot of the operational processes being double-handled, or as clerical duties that an administrator could undertake.
Johnstone said as a result of market changes, business owners are now - for the first time in most cases - starting to ask some serious questions about running a compliant business. Owners are typically not well equipped to review their practice themselves because they are too emotionally connected, he said.
"They (practice owners) feel their business needs help but they can't see where. Businesses are not structured against the new world," he said.
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