Founder of Risk Hub, digital consultant and risk insurance expert Marc Fabris said the platform aims to centralise resources and provide a collaborative space for advisers, insurers, and service providers to connect, learn, and grow.
“At Risk Hub, we are passionate about bridging the gap in risk advice and supporting advisers in their quest to deliver genuine value and best practices to their clients,” said Mr Fabris.
“Our vision is to create a thriving community that fosters collaboration and elevates the standards of the risk insurance industry.”
The overarching goal for Risk Hub, he said, is to save advisers time and make it easier for them to find answers, support partners, and insurer information.
Among the key features of Risk Hub will be a growing library of articles and resources, a comprehensive directory of service providers that cater to the needs of practices, interactive forums, an insurer hub with key insurer contact information and links, and regular webinars and Q&A sessions featuring experts on various topics.
Speaking with ifa, Mr Fabris said Risk Hub will cater for every type of adviser in some way, but through a risk lens.
“Simplistically, there’s three groups of advisers: there’s the riskies, there’s holistics, and there’s the non-risk advisers. Each of those groups have got different needs, but the bottom line is, the whole industry is going to die if we don’t get the holistics to write more risk,” he told ifa.
“So, how do we meet the needs of those groups of people? That’s fundamentally what I’m trying to do. We need to help riskies become more efficient. Holistics, we need to help build trust, understanding, knowledge, and improve processes. And for those that don’t, well at least help understand about risk and maybe how you refer to others so that you look after your clients.
“Now for each of those groups, I’m still going to have content that’s relevant … but we’re going to have the risk lens on this stuff.”
Some of the content on Risk Hub will be available to everyone, but the majority will require a free membership to the platform to access. On launch, Risk Hub is being supported by its principal sponsor, iExtend, as well as two initially engaged insurers, MLC Life and PPS Mutual.
Brian Pillemer, director of distribution at PPS Mutual, said: “PPS Mutual supports Risk Hub for two key reasons: Our shared commitment to help facilitate the provision of risk advice in the Australian market and our belief in the capabilities of the Risk Hub management to successfully centralise resources for risk advisers.”
Mike Downey, general manager retail distribution partnerships at MLC Life, said: “The importance of risk advice in Australia has never been higher. MLC Life Insurance is excited to partner with Risk Hub, providing valuable resources for advisers and supporting their growth in risk insurance.”
“Backing advisers has been part of the DNA of MLC Life Insurance throughout its 137-year history, and supporting Risk Hub is one of the many ways we’re continuing that tradition,” added Michael Rogers, chief individual insurance officer for MLC Life Insurance.
“Already we’re committed to helping advisers keep up with the constantly evolving world of risk advice through our CPD-accredited educational content through webinars, articles and face to face events. We’re excited to work with Risk Hub to showcase this work and continue to help advisers give high quality, strategic risk advice.”
Mr Fabris added that Risk Hub has plans to expand its offering as the platform gains momentum, aiming to build a comprehensive library of resources that “empower advisers with the knowledge, tools, and support needed to excel in risk insurance advice”.
On the surface it sounds like a brilliant idea and I happen to think the timing is good – great. A few of us incidental riskies – are looking to stick our toe back in – albeit with a revised business model. Risk remains an advice proposition product that very much needs to be sold to the client. Now I wonder how long it will be – before the ivory towers start dictating what should be done ‘for the safety of the client” again
All financial advice needs to be sold, just some more than other. With 20% recurring on policies it is a great time to build a business, almost double what most advisers built businesses on in the past. Depending on how you value your time and the reality of today’s 60% upfront and increased responsibilities means that a fee in a lot of cases to supplement the commission is required. This is what LIF for whatever idealistic reason dictated.