Financial planners say reinvention will be key to success

An overwhelming majority of financial planners believe they’ll need to reinvent their business to stay relevant a decade from now, a Professional Planner poll has found.

When asked whether radical change was necessary in the next 10 years, 84 per cent said ‘yes’, while 16 per cent said ‘no’.

The poll coincided with the launch of Professional Planner’s 10^th-anniversary edition, which focused on the evolution of the profession in the next decade.

In the edition, business leaders, including Stanford Brown’s Jonathan Hoyle, SentinelWealth’s Justin Hooper, Madison Financial Group’s Annick Donat, Multitude’s Kate McCallum and Evalesco’s Jeff Thurecht shared how their businesses would evolve in the next 10 years, while professional associations discussed how they saw the blooming profession changing.

At a function celebrating PP’s 10-year milestone, Australian Securities and Investments Commission deputy chair Peter Kell said the introduction of professional standards would reshape financial planning businesses and that the evolution is becoming apparent.

“My view is that, while there are many terrific professionals in financial planning, it is not yet a profession,” Kell said. “It will be, I think, a very important step forward when we see those professional standards in place.”