Embrace bionic advice future, adviser suggests

In a presentation to advisers as part of AFA Inspire’s Stand Up and Step Up Boardroom Series, Ms Diamantidis defines the bionic adviser as someone who can tap into their authenticity while, at the same time, taking advantage of technology.

“I actually think the future of advice is the real you amplified by technology,” Ms Diamantidis said.

“So if we can tap into who we are and then amplify that – and what I mean by amplify is getting advice to more people through technology, being able to do more because we’re so efficient in what we’re doing we can see twice as many clients – then we can stop talking about robo-advice and start talking about bionic advice.”

Ms Diamantidis suggests advisers, in improving client interactions, can develop confidence in their storytelling skills by starting a blog on any topic of personal interest, and to start seeing analogies "between your interests and finance".

She also said advisers “really need to challenge the status quo”.

“I don’t mean this in an aggressive way, but we have accepted a process of advice for decades,” she said.

“Interestingly, I don’t believe ASIC necessarily want it in that order in that way. They’ve given us guidelines, but we’ve somehow allowed en masse this very specific process to occur.

“Innovation never happens from doing the same thing over and over again. We’ve got to completely change the way we do it.”

Last week, Colonial First State said advice platforms must embrace the concept of bionic advice and cater to the growing market of accumulator clients if they are to evolve and meet changing adviser needs.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].