Addressing the Financial Services Council’s annual summit yesterday, Mr Wade noted that a wave of exits from the advisory sector is expected to put about $900bn of client wealth up for grabs over the next five years.
“The most immediate and significant challenge for leaders in the wealth management industry today is to devise a solution to deliver compliant and affordable advice to the masses,” Mr Wade said.
“And we must do so as we move through this period of disruption, regulatory scrutiny and market displacement.” Because today’s advice, while valued by those who can afford it, is too expensive for most Australians.
He noted that there is a growing need and demand to build an advice solution that is “life-driven”, helping consumers at key times when they need advice most, such as investing an inheritance or downsizing, more managing their super well or paying off their mortgage.
“This is a new type of advice to help those Australians who don’t need or can’t afford face-to-face holistic advice,” Mr Wade said.
“It’s advice at the right price, delivered in the right way – digitally – and that can be online, phone, video or robot.”
He called for speeding up discussions with regulators, government and other industry players, commenting: “Combined with the complexity of our tax and pension systems and our aging population, the coming digital disruption is why we need to act fast.”
Mr Wade made the call during a period of adviser controversy at the bank, with a number of advisers speaking out against AMP’s buyer-of-last-resort scheme and the announcement of a wealth “transformation” strategy that will require it to cut a number of advisors.
Chief executive Francesco De Ferrari would not confirm how many advisers would be cut, but said around a third would be lost in such cuts.
Mr Wade said AMP was a leader in the sector, “engaging with government, regulators and industry to shape the way forward”.
Sarah Simpkins
Sarah Simpkins is a journalist at Momentum Media, reporting mainly on banking, financial services and wealth.
Prior to joining the team in 2018, Sarah worked in commercial media and produced stories for a current affairs program on public radio.
You can contact her at [email protected].
