Heads of the financial planning licensee industry will gather in June to find out who advisers believe is leading the market and discuss the future of the licensee model in Australia.
The Professional Planner Licensee Summit, to be held on June 4-5 in the Blue Mountains, is now in its ninth year. Previously known as the Dealer Group Summit, the event was rebranded last year to acknowledge the increasing importance of independently owned licensee businesses and chart a more holistic approach to the conference.
A key feature will be the announcement, by Professional Planner and CoreData, of several industry awards, including Australia’s best licensees – independently owned, institutionally affiliated and institutionally branded – as voted by financial planners.
Advisers are invited to participate in the CoreData | Professional Planner 2018 Licensee survey here
Last year, Matrix Financial Planning was Institutionally Affiliated Licensee of the Year, Commonwealth Financial Planning was Institutionally Branded Licensee of the Year, and GPS Wealth was named Independently Owned Licensee of the Year.
Matrix Financial Planning was the overall Licensee of the Year.
Exclusive industry findings
Sean Allen, director of Australian Financial Services, says attendees at the summit will receive unique market insights and exclusive analysis of how they affect them.
“We look at the 12 elements of the licensee go-to-market offer, including technology and research, paraplanning, software, compliance, marketing and business development,” Allen explains. “We benchmark all of that for all [licensees] so they can see how their offer stacks up from a member perspective. It’s the only true research done in this style.”
He notes that CoreData has tailored this year’s survey – which is primarily targeted at advice firm principals – to make it more topical and appropriate.
“This year, we’ve really pushed into current environment; areas like compliance, the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority, the Life Insurance Framework and the royal commission are all taken into account,” Allen says. “We also ask whether advisers believe licensee firms will stand behind them if they get into trouble. That’s a new question.”
CoreData is regularly approached by financial planning firms to help assess alternative licensee arrangements if the current model doesn’t meet their needs. The summit will present an opportunity for licensees to find out if they are at risk of adviser attrition.
“Whether firms intend to stay with their current licensee will be a key question this year,” Allen says. “We also want to know whether firms are in growth mode or maintenance mode, and whether succession issues are being tackled.
“It gives them a granular view of how their offer is received by the people they are trying to retain and identifies areas of underperformance and outperformance, what direction they’re headed and the areas they may need to review.”
Licensee businesses already confirmed to attend the event include Financial Wisdom, NAB, Commonwealth Bank, BT Group Licensees, GPS Wealth, StatePlus, Financial Service Partners, AMP, Paragem, RI Advice Group, InFocus Wealth Management and ANZ Wealth Australia.
Stellar line-up
The 2018 Licensee Summit will feature a top line-up of presenters and panellists, including:
- Financial Services Council chief executive Sally Loane
- Financial Planning Association chief executive Dante De Gori
- Financial Ombudsman Service Australia lead ombudsman, investment and advice, Dr June Smith
- CoreData founder Andrew Inwood
- StatePlus head of advice Suzanne Doyle
- Madison Financial Group chief executive Annick Donat
- Paragem managing director Ian Knox
- GPS Wealth managing director Grahame Evans
- NAB Financial Planning and NAB Direct Advice general manager Tim Steele
- AMP director of channel services Michael Paff
- Innova Asset Management co-chief investment officer Dan Miles
- Stanford Brown chief executive Jonathan Hoyle
The 2018 event also features a keynote presentation by the chief executive and founder of charity Hands Across the Water, Peter Baines.
Licensee executives and senior management can register online to attend the 2018 Professional Planner Licensee Summit. Places are limited.
