Advisers and Licensees Offered Mental Health Insights and Support

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TAL is launching a series of live and on-demand content to support licensees and financial advisers to manage and enhance their own mental health, alongside their clients’ personal and mental wellbeing “…at a time when the advice industry is facing considerable change.”

TAL says in a statement that contributing to the discussions currently being had on mental health in line with Mental Health Month, the series will be run through TAL’s education program, TAL Risk Academy.

It will be delivered jointly by TAL Head of Mental Health, Glenn Baird, alongside Lifeline Australia Head of Crisis Services and Quality, Rachel Bowes, and Mantle Health co-founder, Dave Burroughs.

Glenn Baird.

The company says they will focus on providing insights and tips around:

  • The appropriate support for a grieving person
  • Helping advisers hone their empathy skills to enable deeper engagement with clients
  • Building greater understanding around the importance of self-care “…so they can continue to provide quality support to clients and engage effectively.”

It says that the content will also provide licensees with practical tools and tips to support their advisers and themselves.

Baird says that with the combination of industry change in the advice sector and the current challenges across Australia and around the world, “…the importance of maintaining mental health has never been more important.”

…to effectively support the mental health and overall well-being of their clients [advisers] must be engaged with their own mental health…

He adds that this significance is magnified when you consider the role a financial adviser plays in the life and well-being of their clients “…to effectively support the mental health and overall well-being of their clients they must be engaged with their own mental health.

He adds that with an in-house Health Services Team, TAL is “…committed to playing an active role in enhancing the advice sector’s level of understanding and knowledge around mental health.”

The TAL Risk Academy mental well-being courses are “…designed to inspire positive change by equipping advisers and licensees with the tools and services to adapt to the evolving mental health landscape and start supportive conversations to help them better connect with their clients,” he says.

Click here to enrol in the mental health classes.



1 COMMENT

  1. I commend TAL for doing what they are doing in this area. I attended the webinar mentioned in the article today. It was run by and featured some talented people and staff of TAL. They all seemed quite genuine and appeared to honestly have client best interest and adviser best interest at front of mind. They provided some very worthwhile take-aways to work with. So, 10/10 for the webinar TAL and to the good people who featured.

    I do feel a bit under the weather, however, when I think back to the time when we were going through FOFA and the commissions were being hit down hard and the fully inappropriate 2 year responsibility period was being pushed onto us by pollies and ‘other’ special interest entities. Where were the life companies THEN?! All of them. CRICKETS. They did NOT play the part of the adviser’s advocates. These elements of change are a big part of the stress we currently feel as advisers, along with inappropriate compliance and educational requirements for riskies. Why on earth there was no carve out for risk advisers when the investment advisers and FULL financial planners were forced into the ludicrous FARCE-IA exam and the 2024 Uni degree AQF8 quals (or whatever they’re called this month) is beyond me. I’d have been on board with a risk specific qualification but definitely not this irrelevant other guff.

    The life companies should have been advocating for THEIR advisers for RELEVANT quals for THEIR advisers so they would continue to stay THEIR advisers and not suffer unnecessary mental stress, depression and anxiety over irrelevant exams and qualifications for riskies. Where were the life companies when we REALLY needed them to champion this for us? Too late now, I’d say. How many left? 18,000+ change? Come Jan’22 it will be 17,000 and come 2024 it will be less than 10,000. How many Life Risk Advisers survive in that mix is anybody’s sad guess. I would venture that there certainly will NOT be enough left by 2024 to support ANY life companies in the manner to which they have become accustomed. Forget it! To get volume there will be mass robo-advice and policies NOT worth the paper they’re NOT written on. I pity any consumer buying what they think of as family protection in the years ahead. No advisers to protect them from life companies either – a perfect storm against client best interest!

    If life companies go down this road the only certainty will be mass consolidations predicated by pure survival and many less life companies. The focus will be on everyone’s statutory reserve funds. I for one am OUT come end of next month. One more riskie, with 36 years experience, GONE. Well done life companies. Good job at getting rid of advisers. Bring on the robo advice, life companies, and when you have a chance, let us know how that works out for you all.

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