The accountability frontier
The wealth management ecosystem is facing a slew of commercial and regulatory dynamics forcing it to measure and demonstrate value in an increasingly complex landscape.
Active managers are being measured against passive benchmarks, and many are found wanting. Platforms are being measured against governance obligations some have not met. Private credit and other unlisted asset investments are being measured against liquidity promises they may not be able to keep. Managed accounts could be measured against a performance test not yet designed. Advisers are being measured against a fee structure that assumed alpha they're no longer getting. And AI is beginning to measure all of it faster than any of these institutions can respond.
The Professional Planner Researcher Forum will examine the growing influence of gatekeepers to financial advice and retail and wholesale investments including asset consultants, investment committees, managed account providers, platforms, research houses and licensees. It will take a self-regulatory position, agitating for greater collaboration and good hygiene on behalf of advisers and their clients.
The forum will address two intersecting domains: investment strategy — covering portfolio construction, alpha generation, and structural market shifts — and commercial and regulatory dynamics — covering governance, platform obligations, and the evolving advice model.
Investment Risks and Opportunities
1. The alpha question: Active, passive and systematic
Bottom-up fundamental equity management has structurally underperformed across developed markets. Advisers are questioning fee rationale as information edge decays and market concentration penalises unconstrained stock-picking. Systematic strategies are gaining ground as a fee-efficient middle ground between passive and traditional active. The forum will debate whether the alpha drought is cyclical or permanent, and what that implies for portfolio construction and manager due diligence, while also showcasing world-class investment management processes.
2. Private markets: Opportunity and suitability risk
Private credit and private equity are flowing into retail and wholesale advice channels at pace, driven by product innovation and yield-seeking. Liquidity perception in ETF-wrapped illiquid structures may present a systemic risk and advisers may not be well-equipped to articulate these complexities to clients. Meanwhile, well-intentioned but poorly-designed regulation and legislation remains a latent risk. A frank debate is needed on appropriate allocation sizing, client suitability, product design and responsibility for investor education across the value chain.
3. AI as an investable theme
Clients are asking advisers how to access AI-driven returns. The answer is multi-layered: private equity holdings in software companies, private credit extended to AI-adjacent borrowers, and infrastructure debt funding data centre energy, to name just a few. Understanding total portfolio AI exposure — not just Magnificent Seven equities — is the more sophisticated framing. The forum will help attendees map the full stack of AI exposure across public and private asset classes, including the intersection with the energy transition.
4. Retirement income and decumulation
Product innovation in decumulation has largely failed to achieve adviser, super fund or client adoption. The forum will address whether traditional portfolio construction can meet retirement income needs without life insurer balance sheet involvement, and what the conditions for client uptake actually are. A related question is whether a possible extension of the Retirement Income Covenant to advice and/or SMSFs would change the terms of the debate — this is an idea in circulation, even if not settled policy.
5. Global trends as lead indicators
ETF and passive adoption in US advice portfolios sits at approximately 24 per cent versus seven per cent in Australia. Governance architecture differences — particularly delegated investment authority flowing directly to advisors in the US, bypassing platform governance structures — illuminate regulatory risks and investment trends Australia is likely to follow. International perspectives on managed account adoption, passive penetration, and retirement product design will be woven through the program.
Commercial Risks and Opportunities
1. Managed accounts performance and transparency
A YFYS-style performance test for managed accounts may be a matter of when, not if — ASIC is progressing its review of both SMAs and platform arrangements, and industry super lobbying for extension of the test is active and politically charged. Key design issues remain unresolved: benchmark selection, super v. non-super portfolio construction implications, and platform data disclosure. The forum will workshop what a well-designed test would look like before draft legislation arrives, rather than waiting to respond.
2. Platform governance and RE obligations
Platforms' response to the Shield and First Guardian collapses has sparked a debate on due diligence, choice and governance. The forum will seek to address what good practice looks like in managed portfolios and platforms, who bears accountability when it falls short, and how the emerging roles of licensees and responsible entities are being redefined.
3. SMSF uptake and the generational wealth transfer
SMSF creation is at its highest ever rate, driven by an under-40 cohort allocating heavily to crypto and ETFs, a meaningfully different population from the traditional SMSF trustee. The emergence of a new cohort of self-directed investors raises fundamental questions about personal accountability, the value of investment choice, and the role for government in wealth management industry dynamics. Political populism presents an additional secular trend for the forum to contend with.
4. Adviser value proposition and AI governance
The adviser value proposition is shifting from investment alpha generation toward structural, behavioural, and decumulation advice — managed accounts are part of that shift, outsourcing portfolio construction to allow advisors to focus on client relationships. At the same time, AI is being adopted rapidly by progressive advisers, while licensees, who are responsible for AI governance, are struggling to keep pace with a technology landscape that is changing faster than policy frameworks and the early adopters in their networks. The debate between outsourced CIO and off-the-shelf model portfolios is also live, with implications for how both research and advice businesses are structured.
NB: This event is only open to eligible wealth management professionals as determined by the Professional Planner editorial team, including but not limited to asset consultants, investment researchers and analysts, advice and asset owner investment committee members, licensee executives, practising financial advisers and practice principles. Asset managers are only eligible to attend via sponsorship. Please contact head of commercial Tim Baker for more information.
CONFERENCE
The Hydro Majestic Hotel Blue Mountains
52/88 Great Western Hwy, Medlow Bath NSW 2780
ACCOMMODATION
Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa
5/19 Lilianfels Ave, Katoomba NSW 2780
There will be a shuttle service provided to be transported between the two venues each day.
Free parking available onsite at both venues.
COACH TRANSFERS
Coach transfers will be scheduled to and from Sydney Domestic Airport and Sydney CBD. Details and timings will be communicated shortly. If you have any questions, please email events@conexusfinancial.com.au.
DRESS CODE
Business casual
