Financial planning practices need more control


A large number of financial planning practices have been part of licensees and/or parent organisations that give them little control but that may change, AdviceIQ said.
Business strategy consultant, Paul Harding-Davis, said professional financial planning practices will take a lead from all other professions and gain more control over their professional destiny.
He said over the course of the next few years the industry would see the new profession that "financial advice deserves to be" as practices would begin moving to new ownership models, reflecting their desire for more control over their professional destiny.
He added that some licence and ownership arrangements should be put in place that would ensure they had control over:
- The quality of their professional advice to their clients;
- The destiny of their practice in terms of its licencing; and
- Their value proposition and building the value of their practice.
Harding-Davis also explained that at present there were few licensees with an ownership structure that offered a practice the chance to achieve these objectives, without having to commit the time, take the risk and gave the distraction of having their own licence.
"When I started working with AdviceIQ, one of the attractions was its unique model which provides every practice an equal seat at the table," he said.
"That equal seat for each practice — and the small and exclusive number of practices — ensures that the decisions taken about the licensee and its business are under the control of the partner firms.
"I absolutely believe that the next five years will see the birth of the profession that financial advice deserves to be, and will be a truly exciting and rewarding period."
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