Analysis
Future of Advice
Overcoming challenges to deliver great outcomes for consumers
Expert advice is the cornerstone of effective decision-making. Given the impacts of an ageing population, retirement savings, and ongoing concerns around financial literacy, now more than ever everyday Australians and New Zealanders need access to affordable, quality advice.
The Future of Advice report was prepared by Deloitte Access Economics for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. The report looks to understand the future of advice in Australia and New Zealand – how do people use advice today, and how will this change in the future? It presents new evidence from two surveys, one of individuals and one of advisers, as well as drawing on other research, to answer these questions.
Key findings
On current trends, Australians and New Zealanders seeking financial advice will, on average, be older and wealthier. This points to growing demand for advice on tax, banking, insurance, mortgages, investments, savings and superannuation.
From the advisers’ perspective, increasing regulation, ever-expanding demands for qualifications and experience and increasing segmentation of the market are seen as their key challenges.
While there has been an obvious need for greater consumer protection, advisers want regulators to get the balance right for financial services and financial products and not reduce flexibility and add compliance costs that have to be passed onto consumers.
Despite the attention of regulators, and negative media reports, our survey shows the advice industry is, perception wise, in a healthy state. Australians and New Zealanders report positively after receiving advice. Four in five say they feel more informed, 69% have greater peace of mind and 68% feel more prepared for the future.
When it comes to what future advice will look like, this reports find that technology use is at an early stage. In the survey conducted as part of this report, only 12% of people have heard of robo advice. After it is explained what robo advice is, a significant percentage are not comfortable with the loss of face-face contact. However, advisers see technology as part of a blended offering which will help keep costs down, by replacing repetitive, impersonal tasks and assisting with compliance.
Get in touch:
Partner, Deloitte Access Economics - Deloitte Australia
joomahony@deloitte.com.au | +61 293 227 877