Advice practices are sometimes hampered by a misplaced focus on innovation and would benefit from taking a step back and concentrating on the basics, a leading adviser has said.
Ravi Agarwal, of Mediq Financial Services, said that for his firm, which was established in 2010, being at the cutting edge of advice technology was a poor fit.
“There are some great advisers and advice businesses out there innovating and making big changes in our industry,” Agarwal explained. “But after a lot of thought, I’ve decided that I’m not one of them.”
He said that while Mediq was a successful practice – it has grown to 34 staff and received the 2017 Practice of the Year award from the Association of Financial Advisers – it wasn’t because it’s a leader in technology or came up with any novel solutions.
“I don’t have that single brushstroke answer to what improves, guarantees or even sustains business performance,” he said, before quoting a famous verse from the Bible’s Book of Ecclesiastes.
“There is nothing new under the sun,” Agarwal said. “Removing this unnecessary need to constantly innovate or find something that as a business we do differently…I could feel a weight lifting off my shoulders. For me, it was a really cathartic and liberating experience.”
The search for better systems and processes, he explained, was often at the expense of the real value advice clients want.
“As advisers, we’re often far too hard on ourselves for not coming up with the next new, new thing that’s supposed to completely change what we do,” Agarwal said. “I think sometimes what we need to do is take a step back and consider the basics.”
Asked how his business dealt with such a steep growth curve, Agarwal explained that at one point Mediq found it more beneficial to plan less, not more.
“We used to do five-year business plans and one-year business goals, and about a year ago we decided we just can’t do that anymore,” he said. “As a business, it’s very hard for us to plan more than 90 days in advance. There are just groundbreaking changes happening that will completely change our business model, whether it’s technology or changes in the mindset of the consumer.”
