Platforms were developed to benefit advisers rather than their clients, and it is time the industry started questioning their utility, says Pinnacle Practice director Anne Fuchs.
Reflecting on her time working for BT in the late 1990s, Fuchs said platforms were developed to drive efficiencies in advisers' businesses.
"[It was] an opportunity for advisers to put up their fees in the context of [Financial Services Reform Act]," she said.
But most consumers are not interested in putting their money in managed funds, Fuchs said. When Australians envisage their retirement they think about property, cash, direct shares and a holiday home, she said.
"We don't really have any solution that taps into the emotional aspect of what the average Aussie likes investing in. [Instead], we've developed a solution that's focused on what we want them to invest in.
"The consumer's not at the core of it. And this is the reason why [our industry] continues to fail to grow and why we have to cannibalise each other and write cheques out to steal each others' advisers," Fuchs said.
As it currently stands, only two out of 10 people seek advice, she said.
"But if we actually innovated and developed customer-centric solutions … that pie would increase from two out of 10 to five out of 10, and then we would all win," Fuchs said.
The financial services industry is full of "really smart people" who have the ability to innovate, but the desire is not there, she said.
Advisers would be grateful for more customer-centric solutions, because they are the ones who are at the "coalface" dealing with angry clients who are questioning the value of platforms, Fuchs said.
"In this great land-grab, who owns the land? The customer owns the land, not us. Cost matters, and if we're making all this profit, shouldn't we be handing it back to them and delivering them a better outcome?" Fuchs asked.
