THE FINNOVATOR

Continuing our theme of 2022 in looking deeper into the technology solutions available to advice firms in 2022, my guest in this Masterclass is someone who will be known to many of you.   To say Dan has quite a pedigree in financial services would be an understatement. He's held a number of roles at a variety of well-known financial institutions, but the tech journey begins in 2004 with a tool tho...

In the second of our relaunched Finnovation Masterclass series, I'm joined by Ashley Mahadeea of Advice Intelligence.     Advice Intelligence is one of what I'd call one of the bigger fringe players in the practice technology space. Growing but not yet where the team is aiming to take it.     In the tech world though, Advice Intelligence has all the markings of a future star: well-funded, great te...

In the very first of our relaunched Finnovation Masterclass series, I'm joined by Taylor Bindon of MOAS.     When it comes to financial planning software there are many tools that start with the aim and claim to be able to do it all. Interestingly, there are few that start with the eventual aim to be able to do it all but the initial intention to do a few things brilliantly.     I first met Taylor...

I'd like to invite you to join Daryl La'Brooy (Hillross St Kilda) and me for a Masterclass session all about how to do a pricing transition most effectively.   I've had the great pleasure of working with Daryl, Kirsten, Steven & the team these past months and this is a story I really wanted to share with you.   If you have yet to meet Daryl, let me be the first to introduce you to someone who as w...

For most practice owners, technology presents a challenge to be overcome.   Maybe it’s about wanting to nail your processes, but not being able to get your workflow threads set up the way you wish they could be.   You’d love to be able to generate presentation-ready advice documents but you end up having to edit everything first.   Perhaps the goal is email automation, but the system just won’t be...

Michael Lawes is someone with whom I share a common passion for coaching advisers. Whenever we get together, we can spent 40 mins or more of the meeting talking about our latest great reads, or what's working best, and find ourselves almost forgetting the reason we were meeting altogether. As National Manager of Business Coaching at Affinia he leads a team that firmly believe that a significant pa...

At some point in time, every advice firm reaches a point where the next stage in its development requires someone to be focused on growing the operational "muscles", which is why I wanted to share this with you. Angela Laughlin of BBB Partners is that person and it's no exaggeration to say is one of the most effective Practice Managers I've worked with.  In this episode of The Finnovator, she shar...

With a lot of firms back on a growth footing, I wanted to share a very relevant, topical and recent conversation with someone who knows a lot about finding, hiring and retaining the very best people; Alisdair Barr Alisdair is the founder and driving force behind Strider. His mission over these past years has been helping advisers to help more clients by solving the resource constraints that hold t...

If the name Fox & Hare isn't familiar to it, you must have been truly "head down, bum up" in 2019. In what seemed like an extraordinarily short period of time Jessica Brady & Glenn Hare caught the attention of the industry and their target market with a mastery of messaging, mission, and branding that drew in prospects and maybe even put more than a few noses out of joint. At this Masterclass thou...

If you REALLY want to know how to 10x the impact you can have on your clients financial decisions, read on. This is one story you need to hear. In 2013, I was not feeling great. I weighed too much, my diet was terrible and my relationship with exercise was at an all-time low. In a flash of destiny, I signed Rachel and I up for a one-month deal with Original Bootcamp in Coogee. Little did I know ho...

Naomi Christopher is one of the most gifted marketers in the financial advice industry, and in this episode of The Finnovator I wanted to share the Masterclass she delivered at our live program workshop The Excelerator on digital marketing. There are many who are good at marketing and many who understand the nuances of the advice proposition but finding those who understand both really, really wel...

I have a confession to make, which is why this episode of The Finnovator is going to be a little different. When I started Audere, speaking was a big part of getting the early word out about how the path I was taking in working with advice firms was different. One thing that got attention was my ability to run sessions exploring the apps and other tech that advisers should know about. Now, after 5...

Jason and Michael Chew from Orange Wealth are two former clients who started their business a little differently.  At the start of most firms journey, there usually isn't room for anyone who isn't directly capable of generating revenue. Well, this is where Jason and Michael's plan differed, as from day one Jason's role was to advise, with Michael on board to focus down on process design, staff man...

If Charles Badenach is just truly an "ordinary bloke", the way he goes about building his brand certainly isn't. I've pulled this episode from the archives because the lessons around how to become an authority in your chosen community are more relevant than ever, whether it's a locality, niche or your own slice of the internet. Charles' practical tips on how he managed to grow his practice, person...

When Zuraida Ariffin cleaned up at the 2018 IFA Excellence Awards with not only the Innovator Award but the overall individual Excellence awards, the cheer in the room was the loudest of the night. With good reason. Zuraida's commitment to doing advice very differently is worthy of recognition.     In this episode of The Finnovator, we dive deep into Zuraida's about her unique way of working with...

In the mid-2000s, Hans Egger had an idea for improving the way clients engaged with advice. So, he released a presentation and set his business on a path to leveraged income.    His story was so compelling that when I was thinking of the best intro for my book, Finnovation, the Astute story seemed like the logical choice.   Since then, the success of Astute Wheel has continued and I felt that revi...

The numbers show that a record number of advice firms transitioned licensees over the last 12 months. Whether it's due to a desire to be self-licensed, making the choice to switch or being forced to by the close of a dealer group, it can be a stressful, complex and fatiguing experience with many decisions to make. That's why I wanted to share this. I'm joined by three advisors (Matt Bruce, Geoff W...

In this episode of The Finnovator I wanted to take a slightly different tack, and share two things that I learnt at the beginning of the year. The first was a lesson on the importance of being willing to ask questions instead of assuming that you have to work it out, resulting in me fulfilling a long-held ambition of running a workshop at Bridgeclimb Sydney. The second is about what that experienc...

Pivot Wealth. Fox & Hare. If those names are familiar to you, how about the Wealth Network? For some of you yes, but if not there's a success story that you'll want to hear. In 2016, Dean Holmes having already built a successful practice in Absolute Wealth set sights on a new challenge. His plan? Create a startup incubator for advice firms, taking the expertise and know-how that had helped them su...

Most of us who've worked in the industry will know a bit or two about niching, the idea that gearing your business up to work with a specific market with a specific proposition and putting a whole lot into it is a route to fast growth. Still, it's something that often gets challenged, and that's why I wanted to share this. In the businesses I've worked with who target a specialist space, I think W...

Reuben Zelwer is one of a number of advisers I I feel genuinely blessed to have worked with. As well as being an award-winning adviser, he's also one of those people who spends his time thinking about his clients and their situations more than most. It's not just a job for him, it's something he takes personally. When he embarked on solving the issue of how to market Adapt Wealth better, he asked...

If you haven't heard from Kim of 9Rok; she's one of those people that just has the ability to pinpoint what it is about you, your business and what you do that makes the difference. In this episode of The Finnovator, we talked about her work with what she's called her "Value Formula"; four steps she takes clients through to have them mastering their own value proposition. With all that's going on...

What would you do if you got the chance to start afresh? What would you change? Chris Yena set out to create a business that could run without him having to see clients, and that's exactly what he's done. In this episode of The Finnovator, I chatted to Chris about: how he built his business Warrringal FS to run without the need for him to see clients, his dedication to systemising everything and m...

Rhett Das is one of a new breed of compliance experts in our industry, operating in the independent space and working with businesses who want to know not just about licensee standards, but about the broader legislative framework. If that all sounds a bit dry, it needn't be because Rhett is also an expert on charting the middle way for businesses; that beautiful sweet spot between running a highly...

I feel like I've known Greg Cook for at least as long as I've been an independent consultant, both in speaking with him at the time and having the opportunity to work with him. But the one thing I know about Greg is not only is he a very successful business owner. There's a certain way that he does it and it seems at times effortless, although I'm sure it's not. In this episode of The Finnovator,...