Financial advisers will need to focus on professionalism, leadership and client trust as artificial intelligence, regulatory change and adviser shortages reshape the profession, AMAFA Managing Director Keith Marshall says.
Addressing the organisation’s national conference in Hobart, Marshall said the advice sector was already entering a new phase, with technology, capacity constraints, succession pressures and rising client expectations changing how advice businesses operate.
He said advisers who created the greatest long-term value for clients, rather than relying on products or technology alone, would define the profession over the coming decade.
The future belongs to advisers who consistently create the greatest value…
Marshall argued that while artificial intelligence would change how advice is delivered, trust would remain the profession’s defining attribute.
“The profession cannot stand still, but it can, and must, choose how it changes,” he said.
“Information does not create clarity, advice does. AI doesn’t build trust, people do.”
Marshall also said ASIC’s expectations of the profession were becoming increasingly clear, with the regulator seeking “…better advice, better businesses, better protection and better leadership”.
He said AMAFA’s strategy was to help advisers build stronger businesses through better systems and clearer expectations, enabling them to meet growing client demand while adapting to industry change.
“The future belongs to advisers who consistently create the greatest value,” Marshall said. “Not those with the most products, the biggest office, or the most sophisticated software. The greatest value, delivered consistently, client by client.”
