Jan 20, 2020
The Statement of Advice or SOA
is a document that outlines recommendations of a financial planner
or adviser to a client. Consumers need to understand the processes
involved in their finances to make informed decisions. Thus,
financial service providers should aim to make this part of the
advice process more efficient.
In today's episode, we talk
about the future of SOA’s with CoreData Group's CEO Jason
Andriessen and Financial Planning Association of Australia's Head
of Policy and Standards Ben Marshan.
Together we discuss the
digitalisation of the Statement of Advice (SOA) and the mindset
shifts needed to understand the concept. We cover all aspects of
this process and how it will evolve in 2020 and beyond.
If you want to keep up with all
these changes coming, then this episode is definitely for you. Tune
in to this episode now!
About Our Guests:
Jason Andriessen is the Managing Director of CoreData Group. His
experience in the finance industry spans over 20 years, including
advising, marketing, and product management. Through CoreData, a
market research and data analytics consulting company, he helps
clients turn evidence-based insights into strategies for business
growth.
Ben Marshan is
the Head of Policy and Standards of the Financial Planning
Association of Australia. The association, in collaboration with
all key stakeholders, strives to advance the financial planning
industry to the benefit of Australians. Ben is passionate about
turning the complex into something simple and efficient.
What is the Future of the Statement of
Advice?
The Interactive Future of the SOA
- It
focuses on how to help members create advice processes that are
more efficient, more engaging, and cheaper.
- For
FPA’s report last year, Ben wanted a solution for his frustration
regarding the dated practice of using hundreds of pages of SOA to
give to clients.
- Ben's
challenge is to deliver advice better and engage consumers through
technology without using paper.
Putting It Together
- The
pushback they've been receiving from members is concerned with
licensing around producing advice digitally.
- The
regulator says it's alright to use pictures, audio, video, and
infographics to produce advice digitally.
- They
gathered lawyers, compliance experts, members, fin-tech experts,
representatives of consumers, and researchers that concluded
nothing is stopping the digital production of advice.
The Purpose of the SOA
- The
purpose of the SOA is for financial service providers to
communicate important information so that consumers or clients can
make informed decisions.
- It
should be focused on the problem the client is seeking to
solve.
Mindset Shifts
- There
are two camps in the focus group: Some who read the SOA and some
who wouldn't read it.
- The
information asymmetry when it comes to advice has never been felt
more acutely than it is right now.
- Through the SOA, financial advisors should be
able to empower clients. However, can you do that if your clients
are not involved in the advice process?
- The
value a client sees is in conversations with their planner, the
relationship, and the outcome—not in the SOA document.
- Financial planners taught consumers to expect
the advice to be a document.
Going Digital
- We're
not respecting the clients when we assume they don't want
digital.
- You
can get feedback loops and see all the proof points of
understanding in the digital world.
Industry Standard Practice Compliance
- The
status quo bias: where I am right now is safer than where I'm going
to be.
- It
requires a full organisational decision to innovate and do things
differently.
- The
code of ethics allows us to challenge assumptions from the
compliance team.
Different Communication Ways
- A
small percentage of the population enjoys engaging with paper-based
documents.
- Visual cues (images, infographics, videos) tend
to be the number one learning predicate.
- It
becomes a barrier to implementation and the right access if your
clients don't understand the information.
Consumer Testing
- They
tested it with eight typical Australians who had advice in the
past, and they loved the digital SOA because it was less daunting
and less overwhelming.
- What
the consumers loved the most about it is the ability to comment and
highlight particular sentences.
Check out the Interactive Guide to the Future of the
SOA on the FPA of
Australia's website.
Listen to more conversations
with pioneers of the new world of financial advice on the
Goals Based Advice Podcast. You can also listen to the podcast on
Apple Podcasts
and Spotify. Follow our Facebook page for updates.
If you have more questions,
don't forget to reach out to me on LinkedIn and
to send an email at jacqui@adviceintelligence.com
Thanks for tuning in!