CEO Update

There’s no doubt that creating that initial clarity and helping clients get financially well-organised offers enormous value in the early days of our relationships with them. Often advisers ask about how they can demonstrate the ongoing value to clients. We’ve recently heard some positive feedback about one of the new tools in the Review meeting pack and how that’s supporting an adviser to develop enriching experiences – for both one of his clients and his staff.

Terri: Conlie, you commented that you’ve been having success in your business with the new documentation from the Look and Feel project. Can you share your experiences?

Conlie: Yes, actually we’ve been pleased with what we’ve seen. My staff used to be quite frustrated in the past when they produced documents from Xplan as they would need to spend so much time reformatting them. In the end, we gave up and went to a third-party provider. There have been so many changes and areas that haven’t worked. Because of this, they’ve been less open to trying new things and a bit sceptical about more changes. Anyway, we regrouped and have given the new look-and-feel project a go.

The new documents are really good. We all like how they come out. The new documents look professional, and it’s much easier for us to get the final product ready for client meetings. It’s quite amazing to see the difference in their attitude to their work. It’s not just with these documents, it’s flowing through to other areas too.

Terri: What does that mean to you?

Conlie: It means that things flow a lot better. Clients are understanding the documents. Client feedback has been very good. They are saying that they’re crisp and clean and easy to follow. Clients can easily go through the review questionnaire and sign off, and they understand what they are signing every time. We love the questions at the front which are good. We shared with the Fitzpatricks’ team what we had been doing with Astute Wheel and it was great to see some of our feedback being incorporated. The interface between the adviser and the client is much more simplified, and because it doesn’t take as long to present, you can spend more time on other things in the meeting. To be honest, if you are engaged and open with your clients year-round, you will know most of the changes anyway. As a comment on the side, it would be great to have an electronic or online version of the review questionnaire. To be able to send it off electronically for the clients to review online, and make changes, with the changes being seen online upon return would be a great step forward in streamlining the review process. This would most definitely allow the adviser to focus on enriching the lives of their clients.

Terri: You’ve been using the C.A.R.E. model in your review meetings. Can you share some of your experiences?

Conlie: Yes, I’ve been using the C.A.R.E. model for quite a few months now. We started using it before it was released for the Look and Feel project because we’d done that in our business, and we had valued the experience. All clients are different and it’s good to have a tool that allows the clients some flexibility in how much detail they’re happy to share.

Clients love the ‘celebrate what’s been achieved’ part. They get to see what they’ve done over the past 12 months and what they’ve achieved with their adviser. In the ‘acknowledge what’s working well’, more often than not clients are saying that having an adviser is working well. They acknowledge that I’ve got their back.
With the ‘realise what’s left’ section estate planning tends to pop up and this is a good reminder for them. What I’ve noticed is that at this point in the discussion they reflect on all the other things they’ve done, and then they are not so hard on themselves. This is when they start to realise they’ve now got head-space to focus on other areas that need to be completed. It’s a call to action, which I like. It feels like it is their idea to clear their head and focus on the next steps.

In ‘explore what’s next’ we typically talk about holidays, family and most recently a few clients have spoken about giving back to the community. It’s a great area that opens conversations about the family. Their parents, kids and grandkids. You have an opportunity to understand the family a bit more and see what other opportunities there are for you to help the family. I prefer to use the word family to describe my clients, instead of the word client.

Terri: You mentioned a story about how the C.A.R.E. model helped one of your clients. Can you share?

Conlie: Yes, there was a client who had been delaying retiring for quite a long time. His wife had been ‘nagging him’ to retire for about 3 years because of stress levels. Working with him and showing the financial impact gave him permission to stop working which came up in the celebrate box. The husband and wife celebrated his retirement together. The ‘explore’ box helped him dream about what he could do next. He thought he could never retire. He now feels secure that he can. It’s funny, the security he needed was not financial. He needed to permit himself to retire. Working through the C.A.R.E model allowed him to come to this conclusion himself. He has always loved music. Now his time is spent composing music and drawing up plans to build a studio at home.

Terri: Do you have any tips to share on how to present it and how you run your meetings?

Conlie: I opted to use the C.A.R.E. model quite early in the annual review presentation. We follow the 6 step meeting process because it works, and the C.A.R.E. model fits well with the positioning step. The reason we like it at this stage is that it’s all about the client and what’s on their agenda rather than going straight to the investments and reporting. It also gives us a base for future conversations and meetings. We still cover the other sections and follow the agenda, but we do it later in the presentation. Image having a rolling process that the “what’s next box” and the “explore box” are in next year’s “celebrate box.” How much value would that bring to the family you work with?

I have recently been using the ‘Hub24 present’ module. It’s a good summary of what’s happening in the client’s portfolio and is also very easy to prepare. Depending on the client I either use the ‘Hub24 present’ live or present it within the new look and feel annual review presentation or both. I always have HUB 24 running in the background just in case.

Terri: Given everything you’ve shared today, how are you feeling about your meetings and the tools available?

Conlie: I’m feeling much more confident about what we’re doing. Things are flowing better behind the scenes and my team is more positive. It also feels like I’m making a difference. It makes me feel valued. It’s nice to know that the families I work with value me and what the team do.

Over the last few months, we have been busily working to refresh are refine our policies and guides. At the end of October, we completed several updates as follows:

• Documenting Advice and Disclosure Documents – These two policies have been combined to reduce duplication and simplify your search for answers.
• Investment Advice – SMSF – This new policy has been launched to formalise requirements which have always been in place. All material has been refreshed and updated.
• Code of Ethics – This policy has been refreshed. We have added a requirement for you to document your due diligence when adding or continuing to refer your clients to your Best of Breed team.
• File Notes Best Practice Guide – No key change here, we have simply reflected the changes in other policies as they impact this guide.
• Client Pricing Guide – No key change here. It has been updated to reflect the new style and format.

On 2nd November Treasury released the latest round of information regarding their thoughts for the Quality of Advice Review specifically in relation to conflicted remuneration (Commissions). Fitzpatricks has been part of a joint submission on behalf of Australian Financial Services Licensees. You can find this report and our submission here.

In 2023 we will be taking a new approach to Share Learn Grow, in particular for the support staff of our Adviser partner practices. We will increase group numbers, and utilise the topics discussed at the Adviser Technical Days, giving each group more time to workshop, reinforce and share their experiences and knowledge across Xplan, FPW advice process and Professional Standards to create better efficiencies for practices.

Share Learn Grow sessions for support staff will be held in March & September 2023 with final release dates over the coming week.

We have recently signed off an updated version of the Investment Philosophy document with data as of 30 September 2022.

How and how quickly you respond to a cyber incident are key factors in limiting the loss of client data, regulatory risk and the damage to your business. That’s why one of the requirements of Fitzpatricks Cyber Security Policy is for you to have your own documented cyber Incident Response Plan (unless you operate out of Fitzpatricks Sydney or Brisbane office in which case you’re covered by Fitzpatricks Group Incident Response Plan). In this context, just a couple of reminders:

1. If you know or suspect you have been a victim of a cyber incident then one of the first things you should do as part of your Incident Response Plan is immediately call Steve Reid (0419 798 949) or Andy Lyons-Davis (0449 610 012) – at any time day or night.

2. If you need any guidance on preparing or updating your Incident Response Plan then don’t hesitate to contact Andy.

If so, click here to watch a recording of the webinar. The webinar explains the various fixes and enhancements that round out the delivery of the Look and Feel Project.

The Opex helpdesk will be closed from 12:30pm (ACST) on the 23rd of December and we will reopen again on the 3rd of January 2023. The Opex support team will not be available during this time. For any urgent Xplan queries please contact Xplan Support (IRESS) directly on 1300 130 069 who will be available on the non-public holidays. Please also be mindful that the Opex helpdesk is based in Adelaide, so there are some variations with times around day light savings.

Over the next few weeks the Fitzpatricks IT Team is enhancing the security and functionality of our IT environment by rolling out Intune to advisers and staff working out of the Fitzpatricks Sydney and Brisbane offices. Intune is a cloud-based device management service that provides improved user access and simplifies application and device management. This allows for corporate applications to be automatically installed and updated on devices as well as manage compliance with our cyber security policies. Stay tuned for the emails that will describe the changes you will see and action that may be required of you.

Processing of payments via weekly Xplan Tasks will continue on Fridays with the exception of the below dates:

No processing of payment tasks on Friday 23rd of December 2022.

We are moving the last processing day to be Thursday the 22nd of December so we can troubleshoot errors with tasks, follow up queries and avoid payments missing this payment run. Please load your tasks for this period as soon as possible with the due date set to the THURSDAY the 22nd of December 2022. Any queries not finalised by the 23rd of December, will be reviewed in the new year to be processed and paid in the 16th of January 2023 payment run. Please note, if your office is closed during this period and we do not receive a response we will await further instructions from you before processing any payments.