by Jim Stackpool | Jun 9, 2026 | Business Performance, Client Offerings, Competitive pressures, Cost-To-Serve, Fee For Service, Financial Complexity, Future of Financial Advice, Pricing Advice, Profitability
Australians are anxious. NAB’s Consumer Stress Index recently hit its highest level since 2014, driven by what most of us already knew – that the cost of groceries, fuel, utilities, rent, and mortgages is grinding people down. Despite so much to be...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 1, 2026 | Business Performance, Consultative Approach, Leadership, Pricing Advice, Value Proposition
Many senior advisers at advice firms cling to a quiet but often false assumption. They usually don’t say it out loud. It’s a very influential assumption. Particularly in client meetings, discussing workflows, and when making hiring decisions. The assumption is this:...
by Jim Stackpool | May 25, 2026 | Best Interests, best practice, Business Performance, Capacity-To-Serve, Growth Stress, Hiring Team Members
Nathan’s spreadsheet looked perfect. His cost-to-serve model showed a team of six costing $520,000, generating $1.4 million in revenue, with a margin on every client segment. On paper, the firm was thriving. Day-to-day, however, Nathan was drowning. His two...
by Jim Stackpool | Apr 27, 2026 | Best Interests, best practice, Brand Development, Business Performance, Client Offerings, Complexity, Consequences, Consultative Approach, Delivering Value, dependency, Engagements, Financial Complexity, Productivity, Profitability, Retention, Separation of advice from product, valuable advice, value, Value Proposition, Wealth Management
Here’s a question that will tell you a lot about your firm’s positioning and pricing approach. When a qualified prospect meets your team for the first time, where do those vital initial conversations focus? If the answer is the prospect’s specific...
by Jim Stackpool | Apr 20, 2026 | adviser fees, Business Performance, Career Management, Certainty Advice, Consultative Approach, Cultivating Advice workshops, Delivering Value, Fee For Service, Leadership, Pricing Advice, Pricing Committees, uplifts, valuable advice, Value of Advice, Value Proposition
Four partners. A well-regarded firm in Perth’s western suburbs. Two majority partners are quietly lifting their fees. Clients staying. Clients paying. Clients value the advice relationship at rates well above inflation. Two minority partners are watching. And refusing...
by Jim Stackpool | Mar 23, 2026 | AI, Brand Development, Business Performance, Business Planning, future of advice, Priorities, Wealth Management
I met Richard and Wayne a couple of weeks ago. They run a well-regarded financial advice firm in Sydney’s Hills district. Ten people. Strong reputation. Good enquiry flow. Long enough in the game to have survived a few industry upheavals. They couldn’t...
