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
Coach transfer from Sydney Domestic Airport or Central Station to Hydro Majestic
Registration
The opening session will share lessons from a career at the cutting edge of investment portfolios and product, reflecting on leadership, resilience and success amid an ever-changing investment landscape. It will opine on the outlook for exchange-traded funds, public and private markets, superannuation and managed accounts, while outlining the headwinds and tailwinds for financial advice and its trusted service providers. It will also provide a behind-the-scenes account of BetaShares’ momentous acquisitions of both InvestSense and Bendigo Bank Super.
This opening panel will survey the major commercial forces reshaping the advice and investment research ecosystem. Licensees are consolidating and expanding their influence over investment governance, the balance of power across the value chain is shifting, and the gatekeeper model is under greater scrutiny than at any point in the past decade. Meanwhile, access to private markets and the AI tech revolution continues to present sharp opportunities and perils. The panel will take a leadership position on the key trends shaping and reshaping wealth management.
Includes table discussion
Lunch | Wintergarden Restaurant
Bottom-up fundamental equity management has structurally underperformed across developed markets, and advisers are questioning the fee rationale. Information edge has decayed, market concentration penalises unconstrained stock-picking, and systematic strategies are gaining ground as a cost-efficient middle ground at a fraction of traditional active fees. This panel will debate whether the alpha drought is cyclical or structural, examine the case for systematic approaches, and interrogate what the shift means for portfolio construction and manager due diligence.
As private credit assets proliferate in advice portfolios, the established frameworks for manager due diligence may not be fit for purposes, particularly as global regulators ramp up scrutiny of retail and wholesale exposures. This panel will examine how advisers, asset consultants and research houses can help ensure investors are educated about emerging asset classes and the risks that can be associated with the coveted illiquidity premium.
Afternoon tea
The AI trade is more complex than the Magnificent Seven. Private equity is exposed through software company holdings, private credit through AI-adjacent borrowers, and infrastructure debt through data centre energy demand — and that exposure is growing rapidly across advice portfolios whether managers know it or not. This panel will map the full stack of AI-driven investment opportunity across public and private asset classes, examine the intersection with the energy transition, and ask whether Australian advisers are equipped to position their clients for the structural shift underway in US and global markets.
Includes table discussion
Coach transfer from Hydro Majestic to Lilianfels
Pre-dinner drinks | Lilianfels Lounge
Conference dinner | Darley's Restaurant, Lilianfels
Coach transfer from Lilianfels to Hydro Majestic
Arrival refreshments
This session will provide an update on the corporate regulator's private credit review and its ongoing oversight of the managed accounts market, covering separately managed accounts and platform governance. It will examine enforcement priorities across the advice and investment chain and provide guidance on how the industry can engage constructively ahead of potential legislative changes.
Amid rumours that government or regulators may introduce a superannuation-style performance test for the managed accounts sector, this session invites delegates to take a self-regulatory leadership position. Following a panel session setting the scene, this interactive session will seek to resolve key questions including: what benchmark is appropriate and investable, how does the test apply across super and non-super portfolios, and what are the implications for platform data disclosure and the SMA market? It will seek to draw out areas of industry consensus and contention.
Includes table discussion
Morning tea
Amid greater regulatory scrutiny and commercial opportunity set, some licensees and advice firms are taking on greater ownership of approved product lists, managed accounts and investment management, changing the dynamics of strategic partnership with asset consultants and research houses. This session showcases current thinking among a diverse range of leading advice firms and licensees, examining the investment governance and client experience implications of management decisions and examining tensions that may arise between product innovation, professional service and research independence.
Lunch | Wintergarden Restaurant
Product innovation in solving for longevity risk has largely failed to achieve mass adviser or client adoption, yet the retirement income challenge continues to grow. This session will examine whether traditional portfolio construction can genuinely meet the income needs of retirees, or whether life insurer or other balance sheet underwriting is really needed to ensure standard of living for retirees. It will consider whether a possible extension of the Retirement Income Covenant to the advice channel would change the terms of the debate.
This final session will look across the value chain to interrogate whether the profession and its gatekeepers have established sufficient checks and balances in the post-Shield First Guardian era to detect fraud, ensure robust investment and advice guidance and conduct due diligence on financial products and investment opportunities. It will reflect on the key themes and contention points of the conference and question whether leaders of the research and asset consulting community.
Includes table discussion
