Specialised financial advice will become a key driver behind the success of advice businesses under the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) regime, according to the head of a boutique risk advice business.
Bombora Advice founder and Manager Director, Wayne Handley said as the financial advice sector moves into the LIF regime “…it’s time for all of us to reflect and ensure we are well placed to leverage what the new era will offer”.
Handley added that practices that positioned their business appropriately would find potential growth under LIF and pointed to specialisation as the driver to creating new business models with best practice mindsets and operational efficiencies.
“At Bombora, we see the specialised risk advice model of the future moving towards one that is underpinned by alliances with fellow professional service firms,” Handley said.
“Working collaboratively with complementary service providers can only enhance client outcomes. At the same time, the benefits of scale and operational efficiency can be considerable,” he added.
“…more than ever it is important to develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with fellow professional service providers…”
“As a new era dawns, more than ever it is important to develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with fellow professional service providers. Client best interest will consistently and constantly be met with many of the traditional costs required for new client acquisition and retention to be some of the early savings delivered,” Handley said.
He pointed to recent examples of specialisation leading to collaborative partnerships within the Bombora group with Sydney practice MBS Insurance signing three joint venture partnerships with an accounting firm, a general insurance provider and financial planning businesses since 2016 (see: Risk Specialist Forms New Venture With Accounting Group).
“We are also in discussions with a number of other professional firms and will be making announcements shortly – the model is resonating,” Handley said, adding that smaller advice practices can create similar partnerships at the local level with comparable sized accounting, legal and broking businesses.
