Client reviews
G'day All There is always a lot of focus on new client engagement and SOA production. Given most practices have way more ongoing clients than new, how are you finding the process of arranging review meetings and preparing review documentation? Could this area and the report we provide clients at review time do with some focus?Advice Request Best Practice
What is seen as the best practice for advisors sending through a request for advice to be prepared to the paraplanning team? I can think of some ways using cases to have a task where the advisor completes templated notes, but most businesses that I've seen the requests are still sent via email to the paraplanning manager/senior paraplanner who then delegates the work. I imagine a wizard could be used too, but ideally we want the process to be straight forward, including detail on strategy and product recs (or considerations). I'm curious as to what works well for both new advice requests as well as SoAA/RoA processes.What is your #1 efficiency tip for this year?
Are you streamlining client comms? Automating documentation? Updating your compliance process? Whether you are in the midst of planning, or are already in BAU - what is your number one efficiency tip for this year to ensure you are effective and able to achieve your 2024 goals? Let us know!What steps have you and your team taken to address cybersecurity risk?
Recent CoreData research suggests advice practices could lose at least 13% of business in the aftermath of a cybersecurity incident. In light of this alarming figure, I want to know what steps have you and your team taken to address cybersecurity risk? I also encourage you to register for the upcoming webinar on February 29th at 9:00 am AEDT where Fraser.Jack and I will be looking at real-life stories of cyber breaches and what you can learn from them! Click here to register.What is the #1 process you have in your practice that makes you efficient?
Being able to move Inspired Money forward, this is a question I had to ask myself very early. This allowed me to remove myself from the technical aspects of the advisory process and focus on driving the business forward into what I saw as the future of advice. Using data better easily became the singular focus for us, and set us on the journey for a tech stack to assist us use our clients data better. It’s still a work in process but I can say this has allowed us to strip 40% from the advice process for new clients and 60% of the time our for the review process.Who proactively asks their software stack providers about security?
The results are in from ASIC's Cyber Pulse Survey, and the report has been released (12th November 2023). So much to unpack! One of the points they make is around supply chain risk. Without looking at the survey, I'm interested to know your thoughts on the percentage of advice firms that have already asked their software stack providers about the levels of security they have in place and can provide the evidence to show they did their DD. What percentage do you think have this on file?What Skills Matter in an AI-Driven Financial Services Industry?
I've been giving a lot of thought to how the increasing presence of artificial intelligence will affect how we hire and develop talent in the financial services industry. Would love to hear what everyone else is thinking. As AI gets better at handling routine tasks and data analysis, the kind of work we typically give to new hires to cut their teeth on, it raises some important questions. For starters, what kind of roles and responsibilities should we be hiring for now? Should we be focusing more on bringing in people with strong interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking abilities? People who are able to form genuine relationships with clients and come up with original solutions to difficult problems? What do you think are the key roles we should be hiring for now? I'm eager to hear your ideas on how businesses can attract, nurture, and retain top talent in this new era.What is your number 1 requirement when it comes to managing Client Correspondence?
There is no shortage of correspondence and communications between an Advice Practice and their Client. This can come direct from the client, from their accountant, from fund managers not to mention the correspondence created internally within your business. When it comes to managing these documents, there are many schools of thought around 'how to store' and 'where to store' this correspondance. From CRM solutions to Cloud Storage to internal servers to paper! So many factors need to be considered such as ease-of-access, security, cost to the business, and protection from theft or loss. When it comes to managing your client correspondence, what is your number 1 requirement (or top 3 if you can't narrow it down) and what drove you to pick your current method?🤓 Xplan Hint: Don’t get caught with your pants down with IressID
Did you know that IressID is coming? You may have seen the emails and messages already, but in case you haven’t, make sure to read on as this will affect every user. IressID is a centralised identity management system that provides secure, streamlined access across Iress products. What this means for you is that you’ll be able to easily login to Xplan, Community, and Learning Centre using the same ID, and with more security of your access and data. If you have an Xplan login, this will switch over to logging in via IressID. IressID will be rolled out to all sites progressively over the course of 2025, so you will need to make sure you’re prepared, or you might find yourself locked out of Xplan! Everything you need to know is in this Community guide. Please take the 5 minutes to read this guide to save yourself any angst once IressID goes live on your site. As always, our Service Desk team via Iress Connect is ready to help if you have any trouble with the instructions! NB: If your site is IressID ready, you’ll see a banner saying "Iress ID is coming to your Xplan site this week" pop up in Xplan. Otherwise, each Xplan user will be notified closer to the date when your site is scheduled to roll out.
