{"id":81415,"date":"2026-03-24T16:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T05:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=81415"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:40:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:40:55","slug":"megatrends-to-reshape-financial-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2026\/03\/24\/megatrends-to-reshape-financial-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Megatrends to Reshape Financial Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Futurist and demographer Mark McCrindle<\/strong><\/a> has urged advisers to focus on the trends reshaping Australia\u2019s economy, workforce, and their own clients.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the recent Riskinfocus26<\/a> event in Melbourne, McCrindle – whose session was supported by TAL and introduced by the insurer’s GM Retail Sales & New Business, Beau Riley<\/strong> – outlined four principles which advisers could use to assist them interpret the future.<\/p>\n

Trend 1: Multifactorial – Not Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAdvisers are already future-focused,\u201d McCrindle told delegates. \u201cYou see the future, you know the realities and you guide clients in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he warned that analysing change through a single trend \u2013 such as artificial intelligence \u2013 risks missing the bigger picture.\u00a0Instead, advisers should view the future through \u201cmultifactorial\u201d megatrends.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimes are not shaped by one narrow trend extrapolated forward,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the combination of demographic change, technology, and economic context that transports our times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trend 2: Timeless Human Behaviours<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, McCrindle cautioned against assuming technological change will automatically transform behaviour. Timeless human drivers \u2013 belonging, security, family, and community \u2013 remain powerful forces shaping financial decisions.<\/p>\n

…Society swings in one direction and then pulls back toward balance…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trend 3: Trends and Countertrends<\/strong><\/p>\n

The futurist also argued that trends rarely move in a straight line. Social change often triggers counter-trends that push behaviour back toward equilibrium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a pendulum,\u201d he said. \u201cSociety swings in one direction and then pulls back toward balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trend 4: Waves Vs Tides<\/strong><\/p>\n

For advisers, according to McCrindle, that means distinguishing between short-term \u201cwaves\u201d and deeper structural \u201ctides\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Graphic \/ McCrindle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWaves grab attention because they\u2019re big and visible,\u201d McCrindle said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the tides that reshape the coastline. They take decades to arrive but they\u2019re transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Population<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of those structural tides is Australia\u2019s continued population expansion, McCrindle told attendees.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s population currently stands at about 27.8m, with roughly 2.1m people arriving in the past five years \u201c\u2026the fastest growth recorded in any five-year period\u201d.<\/p>\n

Migration remains the largest contributor to growth, with around 70% of new arrivals settling in the country\u2019s two largest states.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Graphic \/ McCrindle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said overseas migration accounts for the majority of that growth, while internal migration patterns show people continuing to move towards Queensland and Western Australia in search of affordability and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Strong population growth combined with limited housing supply is also pushing traditional life milestones \u2013 marriage and children \u2013 to later in life.<\/p>\n

Despite rising prices, McCrindle said surveys show younger Australians still aspire to home ownership, and that owning a home ranked as the top financial goal among younger adults, just ahead of financial independence and travel.<\/p>\n

However, affordability constraints are delaying key life transitions.<\/p>\n

Among Australians aged 20-24 who are working, around one-third still live with their parents. Among 25-29 year-olds in full-time work, roughly one in five remain at home. Across the entire 20-29 age bracket, about half live with their parents, pushing the median age of leaving the nest to 26.<\/p>\n

McCrindle described the phenomenon as the KIPPERS generation \u2013 Kids in Parents\u2019 Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Graphic \/ McCrindle …This graphic was knowingly and ironically received by every Riskinfocus 26 audience around the country.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Implications<\/strong><\/p>\n

For financial advisers, the McCrindle said the shift has implications for intergenerational wealth planning, housing affordability strategies, and the timing of insurance and protection advice.<\/p>\n

He said that while many advice practices have traditionally focused on older, wealthier Australians, that client base is shifting rapidly.<\/p>\n

The high-wealth generations, the Builders (born 1925-1945) and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), are leaving the workforce, while Generation X (1965-1979) and Millennials (1980-1994) are moving into peak earning and wealth-accumulation years.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Generation Z (1995-2009) is entering the family-formation stage, with the average age of first-time parents now in the early 30s.<\/p>\n

Looking further ahead, he said Generation Alpha (2010-2024) will soon become the largest generation in Australian history.<\/p>\n

…Younger generations expect collaboration rather than hierarchy…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Born since 2010, the same year devices such as the iPad and platforms such as Instagram emerged, they are the first generation raised entirely in a digital and AI-enabled world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the most technologically immersed generation we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d McCrindle said. \u201cBut they\u2019re also the most globally connected, the most educated and potentially the longest-living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mark
Mark McCrindle, Riskinfocus 26, Melbourne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Workforce transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n

These generational shifts will reshape the labour market, he said, with Millennials soon to make up the largest share of Australia\u2019s workforce. By the mid-2030s, Generation Z is expected to become the dominant cohort, with Generation Alpha beginning to enter employment.<\/p>\n

McCrindle noted that future workers are likely to have far more varied careers, with the average school-leaver expected to hold around 18 jobs across six careers.<\/p>\n

For advice businesses, that mobility will require greater focus on training, mentorship, and flexible leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger generations expect collaboration rather than hierarchy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One encouraging insight for advice practices is that Australians still show strong trust in small businesses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Graphic \/ McCrindle …The message to advisers was for them to take ownership of building trust with their team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Research presented by McCrindle found local businesses rank among the most trusted organisations in the country, largely because customers feel a personal connection with the owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat trust grows when we bring personality, authenticity and relationship, into what we do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For financial advisers, he argued, that personal connection, combined with an understanding of demographic and generational tides, will be critical to remaining relevant in a rapidly changing Australia.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see our other Riskinfocus 26 reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Futurist and demographer Mark McCrindle has urged advisers to focus on the trends reshaping Australia\u2019s economy, workforce, and their own clients. Speaking at the recent Riskinfocus26 event in Melbourne, McCrindle – whose session was supported by TAL and introduced by the insurer’s GM Retail Sales & New Business, Beau Riley – outlined four principles which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":81429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,6831,8295,248],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-conferences-and-events","category-practice-marketing","category-riskinfocus-26","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}