Edited-Audio Transcript:

Speaker 2 – Maja (09:12):

And we’re back. So, this is Maja here with you today with my deputy editor – Neil, so we are actually talking about 2022 and the hopes and dreams of our advisers as we sort of head into, oh, we’re already sort of at the start of the year, but as the year unfolds before us.

So, Neil actually spoke to a number of people just before we went away for our Christmas holidays. And the next person you spoke to was Brett from Pride Advice, who sort of said that his biggest hope is for advisers to walk their talk. So, this is a little bit different. Tell me about this one.

Speaker 3 – Neil (09:49):

Straight off the bat. We had Brett on the podcast last year as well.  For people who don’t know Brett, actually before coming to the advice industry, he was a detective for the South Australian Police Force.

Speaker 2 – Maja:

Oh, I didn’t know that. Wow!

Speaker 3 – Neil:

Yeah, he’s a very interesting man. He’s great to talk to. I advise everyone to go back and listen to that episode. He, much like a lot of advisers, wants to see more done on the regulation side of things, but he wants to see advisers – for lack of a better term, stand up for themselves.

It’s one thing to demand more engagement from regulators or government, but advisers need to stand up. You know, we mentioned, I think in the last episode about some of the bans that advisers were given for flat out doing the wrong thing, and it gives the wider community a bad name, almost in a bad way, it justifies some of these harsher regulations, because, it’s this idea that if one person does it, all of them are going to do the wrong thing, which obviously is not a good thing to move forward with.

So yeah, Brett says he wants to see, as far as the regulatory spotlight, he wants to see advisers doing the right thing, doing what they love and doing it the right way. He believes that in doing so, the regulation, well regulators, sorry, will have no point, but to pull back on the regulations because the wider community is doing the right thing. You know, a loose example, in Sydney a few years ago, you know, when the government introduced the lockout laws, that was some legislation brought in because there are a couple of bad people doing the very wrong thing. Their answer was to shut down certain areas of the city. Now I know you, Maja, you love a dance, but I’ve never seen you do the wrong thing on the night out. So, is it fair that because of a couple of bad eggs that you will get penalized to that? No, it’s not.

Speaker 3 – Neil (11:27):

So, I think more than anything else, Brett is calling on everyone across the board to do the right thing, to do it the right way. And in doing that, regulators will have no choice but to pull back on this. He wants to see financial advice and advisers talk about their profession the same way that doctors are, that it should be something that you are proud about – with pride. Not have a conversation about it, in the way that, oh, that’s that industry that is always getting belted with more compliance. He wants it to be an industry that everyone is proud to be in. It’s a privilege to be in.

Speaker 2 – Maja (11:58):

Mm-hmm. And he actually cites Socrates here. So, he says, as Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. So what Brett is saying is that as a professional, this means “We should think beyond our own instincts and desires in order to make ethical choices for the benefit of our clients. These choices –  we must be willing to debate with others and defend under public scrutiny”. So, it’s that whole idea of walk the talk, stand up for yourself, fight for your right sort of thing.

Speaker 3 – Neil (12:29):

Definitely. As I said, he’s a very deep man. He’s very good with his words. He just wants to see the profession thrive. He doesn’t want to dwell on the compliance and the overregulation, on the negative and the things that are wrong with the industry. He wants people in it to be proud of it and champion that. And who knows, maybe that could be one of the driving factors in turning the decrease in adviser numbers around.

Speaker 2 – Maja (12:53):

Exactly. That’s a good point. And I think this year, Neil, you, and I, we will sort of dedicate more time in talking about, you know, ways to empower the advice industry rather than just sort of, you know, focusing on ASIC focusing on FASEA, focusing on all the negative aspects of the industry. Because we know there are a lot of them, but sometimes you just have to hear those positive stories as well.

And the next person you spoke to, Neil is Karen. So, Women Talking Finance….