Increased demand for succession planning

Demand for financial advice on succession planning and business protection solutions has had a marked increase in the last five years, with strong interest amongst non-financial services, according to Integrated Financial.

Integrated Financial chief executive officer Peter Moyle said the demand from business owners for protection strategies should be a catalyst for financial advisers to ‘up skill’ to provide expert strategies that will address their concerns.

“Business owners in growing numbers are realising that in economically challenging times, they have far more serious issues to address — and these go beyond the operational challenges of finding customers, keeping costs down, business efficiency and staff management,” Moyle said.

“More and more owners are seeking solutions from their financial advisers in addressing the potentially catastrophic scenarios their businesses would face if they, a business partner or key employee, were to become ill, incapacitated or die.”

According to Moyle, demand for business protection expertise now extends to non-financial services businesses and organisations, presenting a key opportunity for the industry.

“Today is an unprecedented time of opportunity in our industry for professional financial advisers,” he said.

“The growing demand [from] business owners for protection solutions will require advisers to invest in themselves and specialise — but in doing so, they will add considerable value to their clients and also longevity to their business and significantly enhance the financial service industry’s reputation.”