Escala founder’s opening move in AI-driven advice for UHNWs
Pep Perry founded and ran Escala Partners for 13 years before building Othello, an end-to-end advice platform for DIY ultra-high-net-worth individuals. It has embedded agentic AI running three modules covering onboarding, investing and reporting.
Why advisers are ditching big firms for more personalised client service
Shaw and Partners has grown from 100 advisers and $4 billion under management in 2015 to more than 200 advisers and more than $50 billion today. Head of private wealth Chris Smith explains why advisers are leaving bigger firms and what’s driving demand for broader wealth advice.
Industry tensions over who will lead on cyber governance standards
The Financial Services Council has criticised the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour for applying to the country’s consumer watchdog for an exemption to negotiate with third-party vendors on behalf of all super funds. The government has deferred to the associations to work together on creating a standard, but the dispute raises questions over whether the industry can self-regulate.
Big data could help predict the next big advice ‘calamity’
FAAA chief executive officer Sarah Abood wants technology to be used to head off the next disaster in the financial advice space. Predictive models offer the opportunity to use data to detect and prevent the next collapse.
Claude for advisers has regulators and competitors on alert
ASIC says it is closely monitoring developments such as the new Claude for financial advisers’ plugin – launched this week – and its potential implications for the Australian market. Incumbent tech vendors are also watching.
How Nvidia’s Jensen Huang could reshape geopolitics for investors
Stanford University professor Stephen Kotkin says computing power will become the key geopolitical contest between the US and China, predicting Nvidia founder and chief executive Jensen Huang will become an increasingly central figure in international relations. The comments came as Kotkin met with Conexus Financial founder Colin Tate AM and chair Geoff Lloyd in the famed Hoover Tower ahead of the Top1000Funds.com Fiduciary Investors Symposium at Stanford.
Competence, judgement, diligence the minimum required of licensees
ASIC’s finding that former InterPrac boss Garry Crole was neither fit and proper nor competent, and lacked diligence and judgement, is a timely warning: licensee leadership isn’t always what advisers assume. Advisers who don’t hold their licensees to account might find they only have themselves to blame if something goes catastrophically wrong.
Industry
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Adviser numbers to settle at 14.8k by 2030: Wealth Data
Adviser researcher Padua Wealth Data expects the number of advisers in Australia to reach 14,796 by 2030. Current adviser numbers have stabilised around the 15,000 mark after the fallout from the Hayne royal commission and the introduction of professional standards saw five-figure departures from the industry.
Asset-based fees dwindle as firms price for complexity, not wealth
New research has found that the shift away from asset-based fees is gathering pace, with advice fees increasingly being based on the complexity of the client, not on portfolio size. Advice firms are shifting to charging for the technical and structuring expertise that keeps clients on track and helps stop them from making expensive mistakes.
Nasdaq leadership enters its next phase
AI-led earnings growth and a historic investment cycle continue to place the Nasdaq’s largest companies at the centre of global equity markets. But for advisers, the question is increasingly not whether to participate in the theme, but how much concentration is appropriate – and where the next phase of returns may come from.
Researcher Forum
Advice Policy Summit
This event is open to CEOs and senior leaders of financial planning licensees, dealer groups and boutique advice firms, along with C-suite executives in superannuation funds with oversight of advice, education and guidance.
Akumin wants to support ambitious quality firms
Akumin has welcomed firms with as few as two advisers to more than 100 in 2026, CEO Matt Lawler tells Professional Planner that the licensee’s growth strategy is focused on the ambitions and quality of potential target firms, not their size.
Shadforth is buying businesses, not books
Not even a year on from its acquisition of Melbourne-based financial advice firm PMD Financial Advisers, Shadforth is still looking for M&A opportunities but strictly to add like-minded advisers, rather than just client books. CEO Terry Dillon tells Professional Planner what those ideal businesses looks like.
How pro-bono work helped adviser Nicola Beswick create new firm
Lawyer turned financial adviser Nicola Beswick recently launched her own financial firm White Rabbit Advisory. Through her experience on the board of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network, she learned valuable lessons which helped her navigate the challenges of setting up her own business.
Technology