Deliberate.
Strategic.
Sustainable.
At GrowthByDesign, we help financial advice firms – and the groups that do business with them – grow.
The Challenge
It’s a race to scale for financial advice firms.
Financial advice groups understand that, in order to continue to compete, size matters. Just like we’ve seen in other industries (general insurance broking, mortgage broking) and other markets (US, UK), the winners will win disproportionately1 and the largest firms command higher valuation multiples compared to smaller competitors2.
Scale will matter in attracting the best talent; in investing in cutting edge technology or leading brand recognition; in developing new valued services lines or building out segment-specific offerings.
There are some great tailwinds in financial advice at the moment – the dynamics of supply and demand are working in advisers’ favour – and for many practices, it’s hard to see a reason to change. But change is coming – the options for advice firms look like: work on your strategy or risk becoming a part of someone else’s.
1US industry commentator David DeVos has tagged them the META firms – the firms that are using the Most Efficient Tactics Available (a Fortnite reference apparently). See here for example: https://www.wealthmanagement.com/business-planning/advisor-innovations-trends-ria-ma-david-devoe
2See for example, the analysis in Oliver Wyman’s “Future of Financial Advice in Australia”. https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2021/jan/future-of-financial-advice.html
News
Merge, don’t submerge – making better decisions about mergers
At a time of consolidation in the wealth advice industry, mergers are getting plenty of attention. We’re big believers that mergers can be a powerful way to develop scale quickly.
Read moreThree key themes shaping the Australian wealth management industry – the “So What?” for financial advice businesses
It’s a great time to be running a financial advice business – but emerging themes of consolidation, new advice models and value chain disruption will have implications for practices. What’s the “so what?” of these key themes that wealth management participants need to be aware of?
Read moreThree key themes driving the shape of the wealth management industry
How industry consolidation, the Golden Trifecta and an historically out of whack value chain might shape the Australian wealth management industry.
Read more