The biggest threat facing licensees

The efficient delivery of traditional dealer services like technology solutions, product research, professional development, remuneration and reporting have made dealer groups like Matrix Planning Solutions and ClearView Financial Advice (CFA) successful but it doesn’t guarantee future success.

In fact, continuing to offer exactly the same services today tomorrow, will most certainly lead to our demise.

As the old investment adage goes; past performance is no indication of future performance.

That disclaimer, which can be found on almost every investment brochure and prospectus, is not only true for investing but business in general.

In today’s rapidly changing economic, regulatory, demographic and technological landscape, businesses must anticipate the future needs of their future clients. If they want to stand out, they’ll need a competitive strength.

For licensees and dealer services providers, that point of difference won’t be commoditised services like technical training, remuneration and reporting, or an open Approved Product List (APL). These functions are considered hygiene factors much like a safe workplace, maternity leave and competent leadership.

Hygiene factors don’t lead to higher client satisfaction but if they’re not performed well, they lead to high dissatisfaction. As a result, businesses need to spend time and money ensuring they get them right, even though they won’t move the dial.

In order to move the dial, licensees need to excel in two main areas: a robust compliance and risk management framework, and technology that drives efficiency.

At Matrix, CFA and LaVista Licensee Solutions, our sensible approach to compliance and risk management is central to our value proposition. We’re able to be pragmatic because we understand the advice businesses in our network and the types of clients they serve.

We know the legislation that they need to be across and we understand how their advice systems and processes work because we helped build them. Consequently, we can provide practical guidance on how they can manage their legal obligations and adapt to changes.

By diligently adhering to our compliance framework, the advice businesses in our network can be confident that the output will be quality advice.

Central to our value proposition is a customised technology platform.

Our platform is mandated so it’s important that we don’t just leave advisers to figure it out on their own.

We have an inhouse technology team to help advice businesses correctly implement and integrate this technology into their processes to drive optimal outcomes.

Internal threats 

As a licensee, it’s a strange but essential exercise to ponder the demise of the dealer group because there are many threats to our existence. These threats aren’t just external.

Arguably, the biggest threat facing licensees is complacency and a stale, outdated value proposition. 

It’s the reason why we regularly examine the services we offer, ask advisers for their feedback and benchmark our performance against our peers.

Recently, Matrix received the CoreData Licensee of the Year Award for the third consecutive year, cementing our position as Australia’s leading licensee. The same team, resources and infrastructure that underpins Matrix’s offer, underpins CFA and LaVista Licensee Solutions. 

According to the 2019 CoreData Licensee Report, Matrix stands out as a licensee that is:

• Committed to personal advice

• Committed to partnering with advisers to grow their businesses

• Focused on meeting the needs of advisers 

Matrix was ranked number one in eight out of 11 categories including education and training, marketing support, communications, technical services, business planning and Net Promoter Score (NPS), with nearly all advisers likely to recommend their licensee. 

Pleasingly, Matrix was also ranked highest in terms of compliance support and above industry average for adviser technology. 

Discover more about Matrix, CFA and LaVista Licensee Solutions.

Todd Kardash is General Manager, Licensee Services. He can be contacted at [email protected].