Sydney, 30 August 2023 – Midwinter Financial Services (Midwinter) has today announced it has partnered with Scale Up Paraplanning, TNW Solutions, and Rocket Services to create an integrated paraplanning solution for advisers.

Midwinter has launched the Paraplanning Partners Program following a successful pilot phase. This program connects Midwinter’s clients with a network of highly skilled paraplanning professionals trained in the Midwinter software, enabling seamless collaboration and efficient delivery of paraplanning and administrative services.

A key feature of the program is the unique paraplanning license, providing a secure and streamlined way for paraplanners to access specified client records through the Midwinter financial advice software. This facilitates the seamless delivery of external paraplanning and administrative services, with advice businesses able to tap into this expertise and additional resource pool when required.

Stacey Cowan, Head of Advice, Midwinter says, “Following a successful pilot, Midwinter is thrilled to be partnering with leading paraplanning providers to create a holistic offer to advisers, ensuring they can operate efficiently and effectively in delivering expert advice to their clients. With the support of our trusted paraplanners, advice businesses can confidently embrace Midwinter and focus on what matters most – their clients.”

Alex Gassner, General Manager, Scale Up Paraplanning says, “We are excited to be one of the inaugural members of Midwinter’s Paraplanning Partners Program. This represents a pivotal opportunity for Scale Up Paraplanning to enhance our partnership, deepen industry ties, and strengthen the quality of our service offering. By focusing on our strengths and collaborating to maximise the provision of quality advice, we’re able to better serve our clients and help them reach their goal of scaling advice operations. As we continue to progress on this journey, we are confident that this partnership will shape a promising and transformative future for our business, setting a new standard of excellence in the financial planning sector.”

Esha Khosla, Director, TNW Solutions says, “We are very excited to be a part of the Midwinter’s paraplanning program. Together with Midwinter, we are aspiring to challenge the status quo and add value in the financial planning space. We have a common objective to increase our footprint in the financial services industry and are looking forward to this partnership which will make way for opportunities to service more customers by providing feasible, cost-effective and efficient solutions for advisers and their practices.”

Damien Winberg, Director, Rocket Services says, “We are thrilled to be working with Midwinter as a preferred support partner. Rocket Services has long supported Midwinter’s intuitive software, which coupled with their commitment to ongoing training and customer satisfaction, has been instrumental in our success. This collaboration allows us to bring our expertise in Paraplanning and Admin to a broader audience, offering financial planning practices a seamless back office solution and Advisers more time to focus on delivering outstanding advice to their clients.”

TNW Solutions is an independent Australian-owned and operated business, providing efficient and high-quality paraplanning services nationwide. Scale Up Paraplanning is an Australian-based back-office service provider that delivers outsourced paraplanning, admin/research and practice consulting services. Rocket Services creates, sources and connects expertise offshore to deliver seamless support to clients.

The Paraplanning Partners Program marks another milestone in Midwinter’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions that support the financial planning industry. If you’re a paraplanning business and wish to be considered for future participation in the program, please contact Midwinter to register your interest here.

All Midwinter customers can now access external paraplanning support through the Midwinter Paraplanning Partners Program. For more information, please email sales@midwinter.com.au.

– ENDS –

Media Contact 

For media enquiries please contact: 

Marcha van der Heuvel
Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Marcha.vandenHeuvel@hkstrategies.com

About Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd 

Midwinter Financial Services is an innovative financial advice software company based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 2006, Midwinter was acquired in August 2019 by Bravura Solutions, a leading provider of software solutions for the wealth management, life insurance, and funds administration industries. 

Midwinter’s cloud-based SaaS solutions improve efficiency, scalability, compliance and client engagement for hundreds of Australia’s leading advice practices, dealer groups, wealth management and superannuation firms.  

Our solutions meet the evolving needs of the advice industry, its consumers and the professionals who provide financial advice. 

To learn more, visit www.midwinter.com.au.

The post Midwinter launches Paraplanning Partners Program appeared first on Midwinter.

The requirement for a more comprehensive due diligence process, additional compliance burdens and more time to meet best interest duty have collectively increased the regulation of personal advice since the Royal Commission.

This has simultaneously increased the cost of financial advice and reduced the number of advisers available to provide it.  

Meanwhile, the need for financial advice has only continued to grow, with one in five people saying the pandemic has led to dramatic financial changes and 25% of people worrying more about money above other concerns. 

Financial advice improves wellbeing and should be both accessible and affordable for everyone who wants or needs it. 

Traditional comprehensive financial advice has become more expensive and less accessible and not everyone wants or needs to deal with all their potential financial goals simultaneously or continuously, as in a comprehensive financial plan.

Consumer trends on what the modern client is looking for from their financial planning relationships has also shifted. The modern client values simplicity and the use of technology is essential to streamline the client experience and remove roadblocks from the process.

Successful businesses are rethinking the way they interact with their clients and are leveraging technology to better deliver to their customers’ preferences, scale their business models and leave more time to focus on delivering a quality advice experience.

The fast change in current market conditions has underlined the need to make a genuine shift to goals-based advice rather than intuitively incorporate it into traditional advice processes.

A goals-based discussion can help reveal a client’s priorities and values and evaluate whether their goals are achievable and make the difficult trade-offs needed. It can substantially improve the outcome of advice and fosters a conversation that is highly tailored, holds great meaning and relevance with a focus on the areas that matter the most to the client.

Midwinter has recently launched MultiGoal – a simple yet powerful goal optimsation engine for advisers. Here we explore how MultiGoal enables advice businesses to effectively innovate, increase efficiency and find new ways to reach and engage clients.

Foster strong long-term adviser-client relationships.

It’s likely that over time, customers who start with MultiGoal as an entry piece of advice will evolve to seeking comprehensive advice for more complex circumstances from traditional advisers. 

Having used MultiGoal to demonstrate the value of advice to your clients, and changing their lifestyles, the likelihood of them as a returning customer increases given the value demonstrated and pre-existing relationship.

MultiGoal is a great tool for many stages of the customer life cycle. It also encourages clients to imagine and connect with their ‘future selves’ and to think about their goals for retirement. A traditional review typically focuses on easily measurable areas such as investment performance when they should measure whether a client remains on track to achieving their goals. MultiGoal is key in reviewing strategies and, if needed, pivoting to ensure the client is on track to achieve their goals.

Introduce new service offerings to expand your target market.

MultiGoal will help advice practices and advisers take their business to the next level. The cost effectiveness and scalability of MultiGoal lowers barriers to entry to advice for everyday Australians and allows advice businesses to address a large unadvised market who need quality, easy to access and affordable advice. MultiGoal is an opportunity for advice business to provide a new service offering and pricing model that allows them to profitably service entry level clients and grow their client book.

Additionally, by giving these consumers easy and affordable access to financial advice, advice businesses can make a significant positive difference to their customers’ long-term financial wellbeing and support the health of the financial advice profession.

Gain efficiencies so you can focus on what matters most – delivering a quality advice experience.

The need to streamline the advice process is crucial in the already demanding financial planning profession. With little more than the click of a button, MultiGoal will automatically suggest strategic recommendations tailored to your client which they can takeaway to start them on the pathway to their ideal financial future.

These actionable items are delivered in a statement of advice that can be issued and charged for after a single meeting.

Adviser’s clients can complete their personal and financial information in the Client Portal prior to their appointment and have this information securely flow through to MultiGoal, reducing double-data entry for the adviser and ensuring the appointment time is spent where it’s most valuable.

Click here to find out more about MultiGoal.

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The advice industry has been discussing goals-based advice for years, but successfully implementing it has been another matter, according to Midwinter’s Head of Product Andrew Zietara.

Everyone’s talking about it, but few actually do it, and those who aren’t feel under pressure to say they can. Despite all the talk about goals-based advice in the profession, the reality of how to deliver it still seems unclear.

A goals-based advice process helps clients pinpoint what really is important in their life before exploring the strategies, trade-offs, and probabilities those choices entail.

The initial results from the Quality of Advice Review indicate a move towards regulating the outcome of advice rather than the process. Goals-based advice represents the epitome of the proposed obligation to provide ‘good advice’ as it is directly shaped around the goals of the client.

And while most advisers would acknowledge that a client’s objectives should always be the starting point for advice, traditional technology hasn’t kept pace. Many goals-based solutions have tended to be too simplistic to provide useful results or over-engineered and complex; finding the right balance is crucial.

For advisers, this means working around client goals within these technological limitations. The outcome is client goals are often still retrofitted to fit a pre-existing risk profile, advice strategies and products.

Start with goals, not strategies

Goals-based advice can help reveal a client’s priorities and values. It’s a great way to start a discussion because clients are often unaware of what is driving their own actions. For example, it’s not common for discussions to reveal basic financial and lifestyle issues between couples.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to take a short-cut to investment strategies without a clear idea of the goals driving them.

A client may want access to the Age Pension (a strategy), but this is just one means to an unspoken goal. Another client may want to buy an investment property (another strategy) but without a clear understanding of the reason why, a better alternative strategy may be left on the table.

Goals-based advice aligns perfectly with advisers’ current best interests duty and related obligations – as well as the future obligation to provide ‘good advice’ as proposed in the Quality of Advice Review – by ensuring advice meets a client’s objectives, financial situation and needs. Goals are specific to each client and untethered from products and investments.

But even client reviews may neglect goals – they tend to focus on easily measurable areas such as investment performance when they should measure whether a client remains on track to achieving their objectives. By actively reviewing the latter, strategies can be changed as needed.

More pressure to make a goals-based approach scalable

The fast change in current market conditions has underlined the need to make a genuine shift to goals-based advice rather than intuitively incorporate it into traditional advice processes.

Inflation is soaring at the fastest pace in decades, placing new cost of living pressures on clients. Official interest rates have quickly risen, adding hundreds of dollars each month to the average mortgage.

Common goals, such as home ownership, are becoming harder to achieve. A rising number of retirees are being forced to use their super to pay off their home. The percentage of pre-retirees who owned their home outright fell from 70 per cent to 47 per cent between 1990 and 2015, according to research by the ABS.

A goals-based advice approach can help clients evaluate whether their goals are still achievable and make the difficult trade-offs needed. It can substantially improve the outcome of advice – even the act of writing down goals significantly increases the odds of achieving them, according to research.

Tech to support goals-based advice and boost engagement

The relatively high cost of advice, partly driven by regulations, has long been in the spotlight. Goals-based advice takes time and can be expensive without the right tech solution.

However, change is underway, with the government’s Quality of Advice Review explicitly calling out digital advice as playing a key role to lift innovation and improve accessibility.

Savvy advisers are looking for technology that supports their business now and can help it transition with the changing regulatory environment and consumer expectations.

The tools are increasingly available to make goals-based advice a fundamental part of the advice process, with tools that are:

• Engaging and effective for clients, yet simple to use for advisers.
• Separated from products and strategies.
• Encourage clients to achieve their goals by helping them imagine and connect with their ‘future selves.’
• Demonstrate the value of advice to clients by changing their lifestyles.

Goals-based advice is now set to take centre stage as the industry continues to evolve.

Midwinter’s new MultiGoal module provides a simple and visually engaging way for advisers to provide a real-time goals-based strategy for their customers. To find out more, head to midwinter.com.au/multigoal or click here to request a demo.

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Technology powers today’s advice businesses, but all tech is not created equal.

The average advice firm now spends 7.4% of its revenue across 14 different types of technology, according to Netwealth’s 2021 AdviceTech Report.

Technology delivers a range of benefits such as allowing advisers to spend more time with clients, improving affordability, growing client numbers, and increasing revenue – but only if the right type of tech is selected.

Some technology has become so ubiquitous that it’s now effectively a commodity with barely any difference in the core product between providers.

The differences between email, cloud storage, and document signing services are often minimal. One product rarely provides an advantage over another: while there are differences such as cyber-security or ancillary services, few of these are game changers for an advice practice.

Advisers should instead focus their time on selecting technology where the differentiation is significant, and where solutions may vastly vary in terms of the cost saving, efficiency boost, or improved client experience they deliver.

A better client experience and greater personalisation

I recently requested a change to my life insurance policy. In response, my insurer sent me a 90-page document. I had to print 12 pages, then sign and scan the relevant sections, before returning it.

This is an unacceptable client experience, yet one that is still all too common.

Archaic paper-based processes like this still dominate financial services, despite a massive digital uptake among consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The technology for simplified digital interactions exists today. Financial advisers just need to identify client facing solutions that suit their business and ensure they are digital friendly, engaging, and easy-to-use.

Examples include easily generating and sharing a Statement of Advice or offering clients the ability to complete a well-designed digital Fact Find at home.

A good design aesthetic can also help make financial matters – which many people view as dull or complex – clearer and more compelling. A visually engaging interface is more than a luxury; it is a necessity if advisers are to effectively educate their clients and demonstrate how their decisions will impact their overall financial situation.

Boost efficiency, review common processes

Creating a better client experience that is more personalised traditionally takes more time, which advisers can ill afford. It is crucial that advisers select the right type of technology to improve their efficiency.

Examples are everywhere, yet many advisers remain mired in manual processes.

While my insurer recently asked me to fill in a paper-based form, even the NSW’s government has created a more efficient pathway. Paper-based forms are no longer required for many NSW government services, for example a car registration renewal – these can all be done online at the Service NSW site or app.

Similarly, advisers now have multiple technology options that can streamline their common tasks.

Making the right choice requires a review of the full advice process and client touch points: what areas are taking the most time and can be streamlined? What areas do clients pay attention to and what do they truly value?

Manual steps should be automated where possible.

Software should be able to automatically access and incorporate common external data feeds into an advice platform. Modelling tools should be able to run complex calculations quickly using common economic and financial assumptions.

These examples highlight areas where selecting the right technology can make a significant difference.

Tech should make compliance a foundation

Advisers have been grappling with a heavy regulatory burden for years.

Even as markets plunged in the wake of the first COVID-19 wave in April 2020, compliance ranked as advisers top concern according to research by Investment Trends.

It has prompted the government to announce a quality of advice review to streamline regulations and make advice more affordable; although it is unlikely this will lead to a regulatory change anytime soon, and even if and when it does, technology will still have a significant role to play.

“The review should have regard to enabling innovation and the development of technological solutions including the use of regulatory technology and digital advice,” the review discussion paper said.

It’s impossible (or at least impractical) to stay compliant without technology while servicing an average 100-200 clients. Many practices still struggle to implement basic processes to remind them when client fee renewal notices are due or to turn off ongoing fees.

An advice technology platform should make this simple while storing such information in the cloud so that it is easily available. Does it allow for a quick comparison of options on the approved product list (APL) based on a client’s personal needs?

Streamlined compliance underpins a more efficient practice, as well as a higher quality of advice, but technology must be the foundation.

Reviewing the unique needs of your own practice will help you select the right type of technology that will deliver the greatest payoff.

Our free eBook ‘How to choose the right advice software for your practice’ provides a framework to help Advisers and Practice Owners review their advice technology requirements so they can select the software that is best suited to their needs. Download the eBook here.

The post Want to increase the value of your tech stack? Here are three things you should review today appeared first on Midwinter.

Midwinter financial advice software works for advisers, and their clients.

Check out this video to find out how Midwinter financial advice software can help you, help Aussies like Joe, live their best life.

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Technology can provide a much-needed efficiency boost to help advisers stay on top of their workload, and with Midwinter’s 2022 EOFY offer*, now is a great time for practices to take a second look at their financial advice software.

Advisers know the march towards the end of the financial year can be hectic.

Many clients traditionally consider implementing tax-effective strategies such as boosting their super contributions ahead of June 30, but it’s also a time to consider how clients are tracking towards their overall financial goals.

Markets have been volatile and uncertain amid rising inflation, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the ongoing fallout from the pandemic. Many clients are becoming concerned about higher food and petrol costs, as well as home loan interest rates, which are predicted to rise substantially over the next one-two years.

Add in a change of federal government for the first time in a decade and advisers have a lot to talk about with their clients.

While not all of the average 200-plus clients each adviser now manages will need EOFY advice, fitting those that do into a meeting schedule can be difficult. Unfortunately advice clients rated their advisers’ review service as their worst performing area, according to the 2022 Future Ready IX advice report.

The EOFY should be seen as an opportunity to touch base with clients and make sure they are on the right track; technology provides a way to do this efficiently.  

Prepare clients through virtual channels

Building personal rapport is always time well spent with clients. However, clients who take the time to consider their financial position and goals beforehand can lay the foundation for a better meeting.

Encourage clients to use advice software to improve engagement and prepare ahead. Those clients who are not comfortable filling in an online Fact Find can still use financial calculators to get a sense of their current position and how it relates to their goals. They may be surprised how much it can change over a year, which prompts new discussions about savings or retirement.

While many clients started with in-person adviser meetings, a growing number are now just as comfortable online.

Some clients even prefer online meetings as they don’t have to make extra time to come into an adviser’s office – it’s good practice to offer the choice to every client. If even a small number prefer online meetings, it can save time.

Review retirement goals, not just super contributions 

The lead in to June 30 is the perfect time to re-assess how clients are tracking against their retirement goals given many will already be considering voluntary contributions.

A voluntary super contribution can help manage a client’s overall personal tax obligations, but there are many other factors at play.

A rising interest rate environment presents a new headwind for future equity and bond returns compared to historic levels.

Potentially higher inflation and lower investment returns over the next few years should serve as a prompt for clients to reassess their retirement goals – will they need to save more or re-consider the level of investment risk they are taking on?

Younger investors may be in a different position, with superannuation guarantee contributions (SG) set to increase. The SG moves to 10.5% on July 1 (and 12% by 2025), which will raise final retirement incomes.

Rising cost of living: an opportunity for budgeting services

Inflation is now tracking at its highest rate in more than a decade, prompting the Reserve Bank of Australia to start raising rates. It has come as a shock to many Australians after the RBA initially said it wouldn’t raise rates until at least 2024.

Many clients will now need to adjust their lifestyles to cope depending on their life stage. Homeowners can expect significantly higher mortgage rates over the next two years while pensioners on fixed incomes may also have to consider cutting back.

Advisers have traditionally shied away from budgeting services but it is increasingly playing a role in holistic, goals-based advice.

Some advisers are offering specific fee-for-service budgeting by asking their clients to fill in spreadsheets or analysing their spending using software.

Advice software can also incorporate calculators to help clients manage their cashflow and providing them with a view into their financial situation in between adviser reviews.

Legislative changes and a new government

The 2022 Federal Budget was light on major changes but did include several small tweaks for clients to consider.

The lowered minimum pension drawdown rate has been extended into 2022-23, allowing retirees who don’t need to withdraw money to keep it in the tax-advantaged super environment. People approaching retirement age can now make voluntary super contributions without having to meet the work test and the downsizer contribution scheme is open to those aged over 55 rather than over 65.

The new Labor government is also planning policy changes that will have an impact on many clients’ financial situation, such as raising the childcare subsidy to 90% for the first child in care and taking up to 40% equity in up to 10,000 first home buyer home purchases a year.

Advice platforms should be kept updated with any new legislation so advice calculations are always up to date; if they are run in the cloud these updates will be available automatically for software users.

Australians are becoming more financially savvy than ever and, after two years of grappling with a pandemic, they’re keen to enjoy life. Advisers who use technology well are set to play a crucial role in helping them achieve their goals through a challenging market environment.

*With the 2022 EOFY offer, advice practices get 2-months access to Midwinter’s financial advice software, basic data migration and a 1-hour training session at no cost. Register interest here by 30 June 2022 to be eligible. Terms and conditions apply and can be found here.

The post How to boost efficiency while helping clients this end of financial year appeared first on Midwinter.

The number of advisers across the industry has plummeted in recent years as public scrutiny, heavy regulation, higher educational requirements, and a pandemic have all taken their toll.

With the Australian unemployment rate falling to a level not seen in over a decade, the skilled labour market is tightening, employees are increasingly leaving their employment in search of ‘better’ options, and the employee – not the employer – now has the upper hand in negotiations.

For practice principals trying to run an advice business, navigating the turbulence caused by this competitive environment seems like an additional and unwanted challenge.

But the reality is more nuanced.

The best advice practices are using it as an opportunity to reset their businesses. They are investing heavily in technology to support their staff, operations, and clients, and finding smarter ways of working after pivoting through one of the most volatile periods in recent memory.

The 2022 Future Ready IX report, sponsored by Midwinter, shows the average practice still posted a profit margin of 24% last year – an impressive result given the challenges facing traditional business models.

While advisers are doing an amazing job, the report reveals some potential strategies that can help practices attract the right talent and turbocharge growth into the future.

Invest in building a great business

The removal of grandfathered remuneration and product and marketing subsidies, as well as lower life insurance commission caps, have taken away steady revenue streams. It now takes a larger investment to run and grow a practice under a fee-for-service model.

Yet more than two-thirds (70%) of businesses are owned by a single principal, who has often established the business and manages it in a very hands-on fashion. Only one-quarter have clearly articulated their planning for the next 3-5 years.

The skills that make a great financial adviser are not always the same as those that make a great business manager. It takes an investment in training or an acknowledgment of your own personal skills and preferences – and then plugging any skill gaps with the right staff.

Practices that meet with an external business coach posted an average 35% uplift in profit per owner, according to the Future Ready IX report. An investment in business management skills can pay off.

Seek more feedback from clients

Clients rate their personal relationship with their adviser as their most valued attribute of the service.

Yet only about one-quarter (26%) of businesses formally sought feedback from their clients in 2021, down from about one-third (32%) in 2019, according to the report. Meanwhile, only one in four advisers said they were in touch with their best clients ten or more times per year. 

Even when advisers do seek information from clients, it is often not recorded systematically in their CRM. Less than 10% are recording key relationship building data such as wedding anniversaries, children’s and grandchildren’s birthdays, or client interests.

A CRM that is integrated into your advice platform can make this a simpler process that becomes a habit.

Technology enables efficiency and compliance

While the average practice recorded a 24% profit margin in 2021, it is still down on the 28% margin posted the previous year, due to higher operational expenditure.

The quickest way advisers can tackle this fall in profit margin is to maximise efficiency gains from their technology stack.

While Treasury is looking to cut regulatory costs and duplication through its Quality of Advice Review, compliance will always be a key challenge given the importance of advice.

Yet one-third (33%) of advisers are “not very confident” that they are meeting breach identification, assessment, and reporting requirements – significantly higher than one-in-five (22%) reported in the previous Future Ready analysis.

With the growing responsiveness seen in the advice tech industry, practices should consider performing a regular review of their systems, to ensure they are fit-for-purpose. For example, in 2022, an advice platform should offer an out-of the-box solution that makes compliance simple and reliable. Similarly, a cloud-based platform should make it simple to produce Statements of Advice and other required documentation.

Another area of efficiency is online communication. Society has rapidly adapted to digital communication following the COVID-19 pandemic yet more than one-third of practices still conduct almost all client appointments in person.

Explore new advice streams

Financial advice has become holistic and personalised rather than product based – and clients have shown they are prepared to pay for it when they understand its value.

Many top practices are now expanding their offerings into new areas such as cashflow management, aged care, and estate planning.

Many of these are areas of untapped demand and represent potential new revenue streams for practices.

For example, one in three advised clients say they don’t have a current will and less than half of advised clients with superannuation have a binding nomination in place, according to the report.

But only one-third (35%) of businesses currently offer advice on aged care, less than half (42%) offer an estate planning solution and about half (52%) have a service to assist with Centrelink.

Grow through acquisition

Small practices with revenue of less than $500,000 are being hit the hardest in the current environment, with average notional profitability dropping to an all-time low of 6.8%, according to the report.

The people running these businesses are, in many cases, talented advisers who aren’t getting the rewards they deserve. But advisers who are part of the ‘great resignation’ don’t have to be lost to the industry. 

Once the foundation of a strong business is in place, practices have an opportunity to attract other quality advisers or to grow through acquisition.

Attract and retain talent

In 2019 almost half (46%) of practice principals thought their staff would rank the morale in their office as ‘very good’ – this has now dropped to 37% according to Future Ready IX.

Maintaining company culture when staff have been forced to work from home for extended periods due to COVID lockdowns has been difficult. Although the flexibility of work from home arrangements has also been seen as a positive shift for many employees.

But even when they’re not in the office on a regular basis, employees want to maintain a regular dialogue with the owners and leaders of the business; they want to understand how their employer is tracking against its objectives.

Over half (52%) of employers have not conducted performance review or appraisals with their staff in the past 6 months, 49% do not have agreed and documented performance objectives and 37% do not have position descriptions. The Future Ready IX data in this area is clear – businesses that have invested in an effective performance management system are delivering considerably more profit than those that are not yet leveraging the full potential of their team.

Where to from here?

The advice industry has faced significant challenges in recent times, but the best practices are continuing to turn them into opportunities for growth.

Practices that invest in their future and people, establish strong business processes, and implement systems to support them will continue to thrive.

Stacey Cowan is the Head of Advice Sales at Midwinter. To find out more about Midwinter’s financial advice software, visit midwinter.com.au or email sales@midwinter.com.au.

The post How the great resignation can create opportunities for advice practices appeared first on Midwinter.

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) today announced that AIA Australia has selected its advice software for their Financial Wellbeing business.

AIA Financial Wellbeing is a new advice business offering affordable, reliable, and straightforward solutions for life and health insurance, superannuation, and wealth advice.

Midwinter’s financial advice software will underpin all aspects of advice generation, enable efficiencies, and support compliance at AIA Financial Wellbeing.

AIA selected Midwinter because it offered comprehensive advice software that required minimal customisation to meet their requirements. AIA Financial Wellbeing were operational on the software following an implementation of just over four months.

CEO of AIA Financial Wellbeing, Pina Sciarrone, said “Midwinter has been easy to work with and their comprehensive and configurable software has helped us quickly stand-up our new advice business. We’re excited about the partnership and Midwinter’s ability to support our goal of enhancing the financial wellbeing of Australians.”

Chief Commercial Officer of Midwinter, Steve Davison, said “We’re proud to have been selected as the financial advice software partner for AIA Financial Wellbeing. This is a testament to the completeness of our advice software and vision, and our team’s ability to implement the software quickly and effectively.”

– ENDS –

Media Contact

For media enquiries please contact:

Deborah Dalziel
Marketing Manager, Midwinter Financial Services
ddalziel@midwinter.com.au

About Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd

Midwinter Financial Services is an innovative financial advice software company based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 2006, Midwinter was acquired in August 2019 by Bravura Solutions, a leading provider of software solutions for the wealth management, life insurance, and funds administration industries.

Midwinter’s cloud-based SaaS solutions improve efficiency, scalability, compliance and client engagement for hundreds of Australia’s leading advice practices, dealer groups, wealth management and superannuation firms.

Our solutions meet the evolving needs of the advice industry, its consumers and the professionals who provide financial advice.

The post AIA selects Midwinter advice software for new Financial Wellbeing business appeared first on Midwinter.

With profits down it’s tempting to tighten the purse strings, but while cutting costs might lift profits in the short term, it may not be the best thing for the future success of your advice business.

The same report has shown that while profits have decreased, the average revenue per practice principal has remained steady and the average gross business revenue has increased.

It’s clear that declining profitability is the result of increasing operational costs.

For an advice business to thrive, they need to invest in efficiency-creating systems and processes.

According to Rod Bertino, Principal of Business Health and co-author of Future Ready IX, finding scale through technology would be the “true enabler” of profit.

Technology is an investment, and like any investment, it must deliver a decent return.

It takes time and effort to implement a new piece of technology into a practice, which is often a sticking point for already busy practice principals, according to Bertino. But he notes the efficiencies gained – and potential technology cost savings – make it a worthwhile investment in the long run.

The longer practices wait to update their processes and systems, the more they will spend serving customers using a less than ideal cost structure, and losing potential profits in the process.

While the pace of digital adoption has increased in recent years, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, outdated approaches haven’t yet been fully replaced by integrated digital end-to-end processes.

Digital advice technology drives efficiency and offers new ways to engage clients, but it’s not a replacement for the adviser-client relationship which remains an important component of a successful advice business. Bertino points to the survey results of 52,000+ advised Australian clients that indicate the strength of the relationship with their adviser is more important than the adviser’s technical knowledge or the quality of the advice they receive.

However, practices that do not adopt digital advice technology and client engagement tools will be left behind as consumers increasingly demand easier access to services and the changing demographic of people seeking advice is creating a growing number of digitally savvy clients.

Midwinter’s Head of Product Andrew Zietara notes the benefits of systemising practice processes using advice technology extend beyond efficiency. “Advice technology enables repeatable tasks to be systemised through workflows which creates efficiencies through automation, but also ensures consistent business processes are established and followed, helps improve staff satisfaction and reduces key person risk.”

Efficiencies gained by implementing the right technology free up time for advisers and practice principals to spend on high-value activities which help boost client satisfaction, deepen the client relationship, and acquire and serve new clients effectively – in turn boosting practice profitability.

The Future Ready IX report was produced by Business Health in partnership with Midwinter. You can download the full report on here. To find out about Midwinter’s leading financial advice software AdviceOS, click here or book a demo with the sales team.

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The Future Ready IX report provides comprehensive analysis of the Australian financial advice profession, including statistics to help advice businesses benchmark their performance against their peers, and insight to help them achieve their business goals.

As a provider of innovative financial advice technology, Midwinter has partnered with Business Health to offer this valuable insight to advice businesses who are looking for new ways to grow and improve the profitability of their business.

In this 1-hour session, hosted by Midwinter and presented by Business Health, the team will provide an overview of the report findings, what these mean for the financial advice profession and how practices can use these to improve their business.

About the report

The Business Health Future Ready IX report is part of a series of whitepapers produced since 2002. These reports provide comprehensive insight into the health of the Australian financial advice industry and its preparedness for the future.

The data and insight presented in this report was drawn from the detailed results of over 200 advice businesses that have taken the Business Health HealthCheck since the time the previous report was published in January 2020. This enables a truly multifaceted picture of today’s marketplace that is unique in the Australian advice community.

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