“Succession planning is never considered too early, yet is often discussed too late,” according to Macquarie’s Financial Advice Benchmarking Report, which surveyed 312 advice firms.

In reality, many businesses only begin thinking about succession when they are forced to, usually due to one of four trigger events: death, disability, retirement, or resignation. At that point, the most common response is to sell the business, largely because it is the quickest option. 

Sale vs succession: timing matters

A business sale can typically be completed within 12 months. Succession planning, however, is a far longer process, often requiring three to five years to properly develop and transition a successor.

As Stephen Prendeville, founder and director of Forte Asset Solutions, notes “Succession takes three to five years, whereas a sale will take up to 12 months.” This timing difference is critical. Succession is not a transaction, it is a structured transition that requires planning, training, and alignment over time. 

Early planning is essential 

Since 2018, the advice industry has faced a reduced talent pool, making successors harder to identify and retain. This has only increased the importance of starting early.

The benefits are also measurable. According to Macquarie’s research, firms with an effective succession plan generated average profits of $684,148 per owner, compared to $355,446 for those without a documented plan.

Internal succession

Many firms first look inward and consider internal succession as a preferred pathway. However, internal succession isn’t always straightforward.

Younger advisers may be highly capable in financial planning and portfolio management, but they may lack the experience, motivation, or aspiration to take on business ownership responsibilities. This uncertainty highlights why relying solely on internal succession can be risky, and why firms need to keep both internal and external options open.

The risks of getting it wrong

Poorly planned succession can quickly create issues such as:

• Operational inefficiencies and duplicated systems
• Cultural misalignment and staff turnover
• Compliance and governance gaps
• Client disruption and service inconsistency

These challenges can erode both business value and client trust. Cultural fit, client continuity, and staff stability all play a major role in long-term success.

Preserve your legacy

If there is one consistent message across the data, it is this: succession planning takes time, often three to five years.

Starting early allows business owners to explore both internal and external pathways, prepare successors properly, and make decisions from a position of strength rather than urgency.

Most importantly, it ensures the outcome is not just a financial one.

The right succession strategy protects clients, supports staff, and preserves the legacy of the business.

If you’re curious to learn more about our community and the support we provide, please feel free to call us on (07) 3018 0400 or email info@futuro.com.au.

One aspect we consistently highlight is the sense of community that comes with being a licensee. But what does that truly entail?

This year, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our AFSL journey, with community-building remaining a central focus for our advisers. Many AFSLs talk about community, but the question arises: when does it truly shine?

Is it when everything falls apart? Over the past 25 years, we’ve faced challenging times, including instances where advisers in sole practices grappled with mental health issues, necessitating a temporary step back from advising. Unfortunately, we’ve also experienced the heartbreaking loss of owners of advice businesses.

In each case, we were able to 

• Arrange for locums to step in and maintain the client base, preserving the value for the families until the advisers could return to the firm or make decisions about the future.
•  In situations where advisers have passed away, we not only safeguarded the value of the firm but also actively assisted in the sale, ensuring the financial security of the family.

 In recent years, we’ve witnessed the emergence of the self-licensed model, particularly in one-person firms. While many are diligently working on succession plans, there’s often a tendency to overlook what might happen in case of unforeseen circumstances.

The true strength of our AFSL lies in the supportive community it offers, especially during times of crisis.

If you’re curious to learn more about our community and the support we provide, please feel free to call us on (07) 3018 0400 or email info@futuro.com.au.

When considering a move of AFSL it’s important to understand the history of the Licensee and how they have operated during the many and varied market and regulatory changes that our industry has faced in the last couple of decades. It could be argued though that what they stand for and how they see the future is just as important.

At Futuro and Insight we will always maintain the passionate belief that people lead better lives because of the advice they receive from a Financial Planning professional.

Our industry will continue to evolve where roles of human and machine will be clearer. Our Bionic World will be seen as:

the human

The decisive component. Personable, Respectful, Professional. The human will understand Lives, Goals and Values and will be able to communicate in a manner easily understood by the client. The Machine will support the Human.

machine

Data is your biggest asset. Protect it with everything you have and ensure it remains portable.

More fintechs will provide more options for parts of the advice process however they will continue to have limited integration.

Everything will want access to your CRM but it will be a one way street. 

We will continue to invest to find the optimal combination of human and machine. To the planners, staff and clients who trust us with their Licensing requirements we will continue to ensure that they are in Safe Hands.

To have a conversation about how the Futuro Advantage Program can help your business, please call us on (07) 3018 0400 or email info@futuro.com.au.

“People don’t want financial planning, they want what financial planning gives them”

In our work with financial planners we have many conversations about the three “P’s” – People, Processes and Profit. These are our top 3 challenges for most financial planning business owners.

(Note that financial planning issues do not make the top 3.)

It is these other critical areas that challenge the best of financial planners. This point is also borne out by the Future Ready IX 2022 report from Business Health.

People

Many of the conversations we have are about people issues in businesses. Often this revolves around role clarity, selection, undefined expectations and individual performance issues.

The Future Ready IX 2022 report also makes some key points:

• One in three do not have position descriptions for most of their staff – role clarity could well be an issue in many of these businesses.

• Almost half do not have agreed and documented performance objectives for most of their staff.

• Have not conducted performance reviews or appraisals with their staff in the past six months (although without an accurate and up to date position description and a set of agreed performance goals, conducting reviews could be very difficult).

• Plus add to this the difficulty in recruiting experienced support staff.

Processes

Given the landscape of people issues it is no surprise then that this leads into common issues around efficiency, process and systems to productively service financial planning clients needs and meet all compliance requirements.

Without the appropriate blend of skilled support, developing efficient business processes becomes a significant challenge for many businesses.

Do you have the staffing/support mix right in technical/compliance tasks vs administration/plan writing?

If the support function is not structured appropriately the outcome is financial planners become involved in too much administration and implementation for clients. This then becomes a drag on the capacity for growth for the business, and leads to poor profitability in most cases.

Profitability

Poor business profitability is one of the common problems for Principals. (worse still if Principals are not aware of the depth of the problem in this area.)

There are many value drivers that contribute to profitability.

Those that have addressed the staff challenges identified are benefiting from higher profitability according to the Future Ready IX 2022 report. (up to 165% increase)

The report also identified that effective use of process & systems is increasing profitability in the order of 50% -60%.

In most businesses we have worked with we have reviewed pricing. This has in most cases been a major driver of increased profitability. The bottom line is that many financial planners are still under pricing their services or is it they don’t know how to address this with their current clients?

The reasons for this are:

1. Underestimate the time involved by both advisers and support staff to complete ongoing service and /or on board new clients.
2. Failure to properly account for all business costs
3. An adequate profit margin not included
4. Adviser lack of confidence in pricing their worth 
5. Trying to be all things to all people regardless of capacity to pay

It is our belief that with the appropriate mix of staff support (incl outsourcing) you will be surprised what impact this will have on your client management per adviser, and hence profitability and business value. 

At Futuro we have a track record of helping business owners improve their business lives through our Advantage Program.

Advantage is an in-house program delivered by a team of experienced experts and business consultants. They get to know you and your business and show you the most effective ways to increase your profitability. From technology to admin systems, strategy to marketing, they will show you how to create a significantly more efficient business.

To have a conversation about how the Futuro Advantage Program can help your business, please call us on (07) 3018 0400 or email info@futuro.com.au.

This is a story of the value in having a licensee who supports business owners in times when the going gets tough.

Our business coach had a meeting with the owner of one of our financial planning firms who asked for some help. He was feeling quite flat about how his business had been performing during the past couple of COVID years.

There were a number of issues that have contributed to the current situation.

• Expenses increased with minimal growth in revenue
• Back office processes stretched
• Client Service Officer at maximum capacity
• Financial planner – too much time spent on lower fee paying clients
• Lack of time spent with key referrers

At a personal level he was struggling with his own time management.

Agreed Action

COVID restrictions have largely been lifted in the State for this financial planner. The steps agreed for implementation were:

• Review cost to serve & current fee model
• Increase administration capacity by outsourcing
• Use outsourcing experience to improve processes
• Complete analysis of the client base – a decision will have to be made regarding lower level clients
• Financial planner – map out the ideal week with high value tasks
• Improve connection with referrers with regular catch ups
• Client value proposition – to be repositioned

The owner now has a plan for the next quarter and beyond. It is clear that to keep this plan on track regular follow up meetings will be scheduled with our business coach.  

At Futuro we have a track record of helping business owners improve their business lives through our Advantage Program.

Advantage is an in-house program delivered by a team of experienced experts and business consultants. They get to know you and your business and show you the most effective ways to increase your profitability. From technology to admin systems, strategy to marketing, they will show you how to create a significantly more efficient business.

To have a conversation about how the Futuro Advantage Program can help your business, please call us on (07) 3018 0400 or email info@futuro.com.au.

When a sector such as financial planning goes through enormous amounts of change it is not unusual to see different levels of business performance.  The results of financial advice businesses after the past 5 years also shows up a wide range of performance. 

As we have seen from a number of Industry consultants the range of business performance measured by EBIT profit performance varies enormously.

Yet we know from Business Health benchmarking data that some top quartile practices are achieving double this profitability number or higher.

What sets these owners apart from their competitors?

At Futuro we find that the financial planners leading high performing financial advice businesses have some common personal skills.

It is interesting to see a breakdown of these behaviours in owners whose businesses are performing above average.

Leadership

• Strategic thinking & planning
• Have clear business goals documented
• Take personal accountability
• Be prepared to tackle difficult decisions

Adaptability

• Willingness to adjust to changes
• Responding quickly to expectations of clients & others
• Obtain feedback & take action if necessary

Financial Management

• Understand cost to serve base & value to clients
• Regularly reviewing service proposition & fee levels
• Monitoring business financials on a regular basis

Communication

• Sharing the vision & progress for the business with staff
• Listening skills and taking action
• Encouraging input from clients, staff and others & act on it

Delegation & Time Management

• Utilise personal time for high value tasks & delegate to others
• Play to others strengths
• Leverage advice staff time & adopt support model to best suit

If you were completing your own audit on your behaviours leading your financial planning business – how would you rate yourself?

At Futuro we love helping advisers improve their business outcomes. We are serious about helping our practices build their revenue and profitability.

Why not give us a call on (07) 3018 0400 or send an email to info@futuro.com.au to find out more?

How can we help you lead your business into the future?

As we enter a new year it is interesting to reflect on what are the Key Drivers outperforming practices are focusing on.

We have observed that adviser practices can thrive provided there exists the right mindset from the Principal for business improvement & accountability.

 We believe the key to success is in a number of Key Drivers.

Key Drivers for Success in 2022

Strategy & Accountability

• Strategic direction documented with clear vision for the Practice
• Business improvement mindset – open to new ideas and willing to implement change
• Accountability – accepting accountability for the actions required to drive the business forward
• Engaging a third party coach and/or a board of advice to assist staying on track

Financial Management

• Fee model based on a minimum of cost to serve plus profit margin
• Fees reviewed annually
• Regular monitoring of business financials

Growth & Value Proposition Alignment

• Well thought out client value proposition
• Defined target market
• Established client & external referral activity driving growth
• Principal maximising time allocation to clients & growth activities

Operations Support

• Support staff structure mixed with appropriate outsourcing
• Adviser is supported by an advice support role (or Associate Adviser)
• Strong focus on process aligned to compliance requirements
• Focus on a strong client experience through ongoing support & service delivery

The successful adviser business owner shooting the lights out is willing to:

• Delegate
• Embrace outsourcing
• Be accountable to your goals

At Futuro we recognise the importance of business support for owners. We offer a mixture of adviser forums & also the opportunity to work with our business consultant on an ongoing basis. 

 If you would like to know more about how Futuro can help your business, give us a call on (07) 3018 0400 or send an email to info@futuro.com.au.

All small business owners would love to have a team of employees who are talented and high performers. In a typical financial planning practice (of up to 5 staff), each individual performance is critical.I

In small teams it can be tough should team members be struggling. This is why business owners should have in place a performance appraisal system.  

At this time of the year many employees sit down with their manager/employer and participate in a performance appraisal discussion. For many businesses this is usually conducted every six months. 

For Financial Planning Practices, (who fall into the small teams category) …. should you worry about this process? After all, isn’t this something more suited to the large Corporates?

We are a relatively small business and I speak with my staff every day!

Hang on – that is not enough to discuss client matters, helping prepare for the next client meeting or work flow problems. The appraisal process should be about your staff member, their role in the business, performance and aspirations.

A staff appraisal process can provide distinct benefits to both the staff member and the employer.

Staff Benefits of the Performance Appraisal Process

1. Discuss personal objectives
2. Receive valuable feedback concerning performance in a structured way
3. Recognition for efforts and contribution to the business
4. Contribute to a discussion regarding areas for training and development
5. Clarify expectations and discuss plans and goals for the future

   Demand for trained and experienced staff is at an all time high in financial planning. Be proactive and spend structured time with your people.

Employer Benefits of the Performance Appraisal Process

1. Engage your staff and show your interest in their position within the business
2. Support development and training opportunities
3. Help nurture their career aspirations
4. Assists in planning for the future goals of the business
5. Helps linking compensation and rewards to performance

Remember the process is not about picking on performance issues. The focus should be on recognising good performance and discussing opportunities for improvement and development.

At Futuro we understand financial planning businesses. We provide support to business owners and improve both their business & personal life.

If you would like to know more about how Futuro can help your business, give us a call on (07) 3018 0400 or send an email to info@futuro.com.au.

Strategic Planning in business is always a valuable and interesting exercise to undertake. Financial planning businesses are no exception.

In financial planning we encourage our firms to complete a Business Health check, which provides an external view of the business performance compared to the Business Health extensive database of financial planning businesses.

It is interesting what feedback is provided when you invite all staff to participate in the Strategic Planning process for the business.

A useful starting point for strategic planning is to have the whole team complete a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business). 

This is completed from a business improvement perspective. It is generally extremely beneficial when staff are asked to participate and provide their comments freely.

Some recent examples of feedback from staff involved in this process, when responding to what they observe as weaknesses in the business:

• Lack of training/mentoring
• Lack of communication
• No monitoring of staff progress/KPI’s
• Career development opportunities
• No formal staff appraisals
• Awkwardness requesting leave

Looking at this feedback there is clearly lots of opportunity for improvement in the support of and managing staff in this business. The business Principal acknowledged that these were gaps that he had not addressed. In fact he had been very focused on clients and not allocated time to work in the business.  

 Feedback such as this is clearly a warning sign that if not addressed there was a high probability of losing staff in the near future.

How to address Staff Concerns?

With feedback from staff such as this, there has to be a priority to set out a plan of how to address the issues.

1. Thank staff for their feedback and provide them with an overview of the findings from the SWOT & strategic planning process. Outline the plan ahead and provide regular updates as to progress
2. Position descriptions for each role to be completed with all staff
3. Develop objectives with each staff member that are measurable, and document these in a scorecard   
4. Conduct 6 monthly appraisals of performance
5. Create a development plan for all staff. In view of the feedback this is a critical step for this business. The staff appear to be making strong statements that they want to develop and when buy in is demonstrated by both parties they ensure the employee is growing personally, developing their ability to achieve more in the workplace, and meet the organisation’s goals.

If our business Principal actions this plan, the future for the business will be much brighter than what it could have been.

According to the Business Health Future Ready VIII analysis, those practices where staff have clearly documented performance objectives, the profitability per principal is 44% higher than where objectives are not defined.

It is really a no brainer for Principals to allocate some time to demonstrate to your people just how important you view them and their contribution to the business.

At Futuro we understand financial planning businesses. We provide support to business owners and improve both their business & personal life.

If you would like to know more about how Futuro can help your business, give us a call on (07) 3018 0400 or send an email to info@futuro.com.au.

The pandemic has thrown up many challenges for our communities. Particularly those in lockdowns for extended periods of time.

However there has been some positives also. The way we have reached out to each other and connected in these tough times has shown up many examples of human kindness & genuine concern we have shown for each other. It’s rare that a phone call or email doesn’t include some kind of message like “I hope you and your family are well.”

Financial advice has always been a relationship business. During lockdown we have adapted to using video conferencing with clients for meetings. Sometimes we have also met young children or grandchildren also in the middle of our virtual meeting. Hasn’t that been great! Connecting with clients at another level!

Who has now met the family pet over Zoom? Or has your family cat appeared in your virtual meetings? If so, you are well on the way to building deeper lasting client relationships.

For many advisers they have contacted their clients more frequently than just around formal reviews. These incidental calls reaching out to see how people are have been critical. Particularly with those clients living alone or without family. Some advisers have backed this up sending small gifts of treats to brighten up the day for some. This has been incredibly well received and strengthened relationships further again.

Coincidentally the advisers that show higher levels of empathy in times like this seem to also be asked to speak to other family and friends more frequently about their financial affairs.

How would your clients rate the experience received from your business over these pandemic times? Maybe the answer lies with how many family pets you have met?

At Futuro we understand financial planning businesses. We provide support to  business owners and improve both their business & personal life.

If you would like to know more about how Futuro can help your business, give us a call on (07) 3018 0400 or send an email to info@futuro.com.au.