Scaled financial advice key to ANZ growth

The provision of scaled and limited financial advice, particularly over the phone, will be a key value proposition in attracting both financial advisers and clients to ANZ, according to ANZ general manager advice and distribution Paul Barrett.

Financial advisers increasingly want their licensees to provide simple advice tools, according to Barrett, who said ANZ's Melbourne-based My Advice phone advice service has now grown to 35 advisers in six months.

The service has so far provided more than 1,200 pieces of financial advice, and a recent customer satisfaction survey recorded very positive results, he said.

As the industry moves from more of an information age to an understanding age, the education of consumers will become crucial. The more they understand about the finances and advice the more they will be prepared to pay for financial advice, because they will see more benefit in going to a financial planner, he said.

This means phone delivery and also web-based services will become increasingly important, and product providers should be using the web as a way to engage consumers and their finances to increase their understanding, he said.

Product providers who can take this responsibility to educate and inform consumers and build deep and meaningful, proactive relationships with clients will be the ones favoured by the financial adviser of the future, he said.

"That's got to be at the centre of our thinking as a product provider - how do we be the provider that enables the adviser to be more proactive and less reactive?" he said.

ANZ is trying to leverage its phone advice infrastructure to provide it to the self-employed independent financial adviser-style businesses that want to be able to offer phone-based advice to help them provide it. "With opt-in, that will be a massive opportunity - particularly if they've got large client bases," Barrett said.