Regroup, Reinvigorate

The shindig event of the Australian financial advice calendar – the FPA 2008 Conference – kicks-off tomorrow in earnest in Queensland.

The event is unlikely to carry a party mood, but more a chance for the industry to regroup and lick its wounds.

A week after the subdued mood of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia annual conference, held in Auckland, the executive of the Financial Planning Association of Australia will be charged with stirring the troops with inspiration before sending them back out to battle.

Yes, 2008 has been a tough year and, yes, 2009 will also be a tough year, and maybe, 2010 will be a tough year – but the advice industry still has an awful lot going for it.

An FPA commissioned CoreData White Paper to be released at the conference will outline the growth opportunities for the sector – and all the signs from an adviser and a consumer perspective are that opportunities remain for solid future growth despite the pain being felt right now.

This year has been a roller-coaster ride.

Uncertainty breeds opportunity, for sure, but uncertainty has also made many non-professionals realise just how out of their depth they are.

Australia has a significant contingent of self-directed investors along with mum and dad ‘have-go-investors’, and just like the professionals, the majority of these have been burned in 2008.

When everything is going smoothly and returns are being made as easily as shooting ducks in a barrel, these individuals find it hard to understand the value of professional advice.

Yes, markets have reclaimed much of the value afforded to investors over the past three and a half years and clients of advisers have lost a great deal of money in the process, but by having a strategy in place that goes beyond chasing simple yield means the events of 2008 – at least for the currently non-advised could actually become a blessing in disguise for the advice industry.

Non-advised mum and dads are likely to have come to the conclusion that they were out of their depth and don’t have the stomach for such wild almost daily swings in volatility.

The FPA will release research at the conference, which they commissioned CoreData-BM to conduct apiece of research.

This research will form the basis of a White Paper for the industry and reveals a host of projections for what lies ahead in 2009 and beyond.

Once released the paper will become openly available.