Specialisation more feasible for advisers
The complexity of advice and product innovation in the future may mean it is more viable for advisers to explore specialisation in certain fields rather than trying to become a "jack of all trades", according to a retirement adviser.
The Retirement Advice Centre's David Reed, who is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services, said his own business started specialising in retirement six years ago, which "allowed us to really get an intense, deep, narrow focus as to what our clients' needs are".
Speaking at the Association of Financial Advisers' (AFA's) 2016 National Adviser Conference in Canberra on Thursday, Reed said clients who worked with specialist advisers had an acute awareness of what they did, which could lead to increased referrals, which, according to him, was what happened at his firm.
"When we were more of a generalist it was a bit more vague so to speak. Certainly from a professional point of view whether it's going to be specialisation or diversified one stop shop, look, I guess the market will dictate that over time'" Reed said.
Market forces, clients, and technology had led Reed and the business to take on a more entrepreneurial approach rather than just that of a practitioner, he said.
"By looking overseas we're able to look at a different variety of fields, whether it be academics, gerontologist, technology, other practitioners, etc. and then bring that back and really significantly add value to our clients, how to communicate that, how to value it, [and] how to position it," Reed said.
AUTHOR
Malavika Santhebennur
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