[GRTV] Advisers can thrive

Mortgage dealer aggregation is a space to watch with several new players entering the market in recent years. With TAP, Finsure and KAN coming into the market, GRTV asks what all this change will mean for mortgage advisers?

“Change is great”, says TAP’s Edwards. “Change creates opportunity.”

He says with so much going on in the sector, there’s an opportunity for advisers to look around and question what they’re getting from their current FAP. “Advisers are spoiled for choice.”

TAP’s value proposition focuses on the concept of FAP management, says Edwards.

It offers support on compliance, continuing professional development, administration, workflow and growing the business to “thrive rather than exist.”

He is encouraging advisers to ask: what their business needs over a three to five year plan and who is best placed to provide the services to help them get there.

“Software alone doesn’t do the job. I think a lot of advisers have perhaps jumped from system to system over the years and found that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done around the day to day operational side but also as we move into now running our FAP as opposed to getting the FAP.”

Speaking on the broader advice sector, Edwards says with the new regime in place there are “a lot of Ferraris parked in the garage but they have yet to get their P plates.”

Now that the transition from putting policies and processes in place is done, FAPs and advisers must be able to prove they are being followed especially with the first annual FAP returns coming due in nine months time.

“It shouldn’t be difficult. It shouldn’t be stressful. With the right systems in place you should be able to keep on top of the regulatory requirements and run a really good business at the same time.”

While regulatory change caused a decimation of the advice industry in Australia, Edwards thinks New Zealand was able to learn from unintended consequences there and the UK.

He believes the local industry has reached a “sweet spot” in terms of raising the bar on how businesses are run without going too far in the opposite direction and doesn’t think the changes are onerous or over the top but they do require some change in perspective and how businesses are run.

He says the hope is that advisers embrace the change and have the aspirational goal of raising the professional bar and the regulatory framework should be seen as a positive in terms of building consumer confidence and taking many advisers from sole practices to running a genuine business with proper reporting, tools and oversight.

So is there a place for sole advisers in this new landscape or do they need to join a FAP? Edwards believes the answer is yes they can and no they don’t. They can actually thrive providing they have the right services in place, which is where TAP’s value proposition comes in.