IFFP advisers come up short
Research conducted by CoreData has suggested Industry Funds Financial Planning (IFFP) advisers come up short in engagement and service skills when compared to their independent or bank-aligned colleagues.
According to CoreData’s Industry Funds Financial Planning Shadow Shop Report, IFFP planners were less likely to convert prospects into clients, and less likely to be capable of servicing at a high level if they did.
The report compared the client experience of IFFP businesses to other independent financial advisers and bank aligned financial planners, with IFFP advisers coming up short.
IFFP advisers fell behind both independent advisers (by almost 10 per cent) and bank planners (by almost 5 per cent).
The research said while IFFP advisers were “good at the basics”, they showed “a limited ability to meet individuals’ planning needs and cater to situations that differed from the norm”.
“The IFFP model appears to be restricted and limited both in terms of the solutions its advisers can offer and also around the notion of an ongoing service proposition,” CoreData said.
Furthermore, IFFP advisers particularly lacked the “softer engagement skills” evident in other advisers, CoreData said.
“IFFP advisers were deemed to be extremely honest, yet despite this, IFFP advisers trailed [independent and bank planners] in rapport building skills,” the group said.
Part of that was a failure to demonstrate “keenness” for business, as well as having only a “limited follow-up procedure, almost as if the advisers were happy for clients to take it or leave it”.
CoreData managing director Andrew Inwood said the economic crisis had highlighted some “shortcomings within IFFP’s current capability”, adding that the group’s potential customers were “underwhelmed by the experience”.
“In uncertain times, clients want a higher level of service and they want reassurance. The [report] indicates that IFFP’s planners have some way to go to even match the rest of the industry.”
Inwood added it was “critical that they start to get this right”, as businesses like IFFP have an important role in helping Australians make the best of their future.
Money Management contacted IFFP for comment but none was available at the time of publishing.
The report detailed planners’ ability to engage and then service potential investment, superannuation and insurance clients.
The research was based on 480 shadow shopping events conducted by more than 200 people, covering 19 dealer groups. The participants were aged between 45-60 years and were between two to 20 years from their expected retirement date. The shadow shoppers were also people who were actively seeking advice or looking to change their adviser and held more than $150,000 in investable assets or superannuation monies.
The would-be clients accessed the dealer groups’ services from November to December 2009.
Related article: Industry Funds Services defends planners
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