Value investing is one of the oldest and most intuitive styles of equity investing. Yet in 2020 the headlines screamed that poor performance meant its heady days were not returning. Massive disruption, whether driven by technology, demographics or otherwise, is testing (sometimes displacing) traditional business models. Is value investing a lost cause? Or does a longer view of history show that value’s cycles give confidence that the slump is temporary? Are growth stocks and the expansion of earnings multiples untethered to valuation? The ‘if to rotate’ and ‘when to rotate’ question is front of mind for brokers and investment advisers. Hear experts from both sides explore this central investor question.

The demand for financial advice is strong, with 41% of Australians intending to get advice in the future. Yet the sector has never felt so pressured by regulatory requirements and the cost of accessing advice is increasing.

• What can current trends tell us about the future of stockbroking and financial advice?
• How will changing client expectations redefine the role of brokers and advisers in the future, and what skills and capabilities will be essential for success?
• Which business models are likely to succeed or fail, and what do firms need to be learning and doing now to thrive in the future?
• What regulation will support or hinder access to financial advice?
• What role will tone from the top play in confirming ethics in the industry?

Financial advisers are subject to regulation by ASIC and FASEA, with a single disciplinary body to be introduced at some point in 2021. Complaints against advisers go to AFCA. This session provides the opportunity for advisers and their licensees to hear from those who regulate them about the key issues in financial advice regulation this year.

Structural shifts are currently underpinning the stockbroking and wealth management sector, accelerated by the global pandemic

• Leveraging emerging technologies to increase operational efficiencies, lower costs, and improve margins and compliance
• Reviewing the impact of greater automation on client experience vs cost saving
• Replacing legacy systems and re-platforming
• Important considerations in planning the digitisation roadmap for your business.

This session explores the opportunities inherent in the professionalisation of the financial adviser from a global and Australian perspective. The panel will discuss:

• What is the practical meaning of representing a profession?
• What is the client experience and expectation of the financial advice professional?
• International trends and observations – what successful advisers have in common
• How will advisers collectively create client value going forward?

Recent reforms to the regulation of financial advice have focused on creating individual and professional obligations for financial advisers, moving away from the historical practice of imparting regulatory obligations through a licensee. Proposals are being discussed that the law should change to separate the regulation of financial products from the regulation of financial advice, focusing the AFSL system on the regulation of financial products and removing the requirement for an AFSL to cover the provision of financial advice. What are the implications of such a move for monitoring of the quality of advice; capital adequacy; liquid funds; supervision and the advisers themselves?

Gravity defying asset prices assume that the real economy is irrelevant to financial markets and everything is a function of an endless supply of cheap credit from central banks. But economic activity drives profits and cash flow. Growth is now severely constrained by adverse demographics, stagnant growth, slowing productivity improvements and a massive debt overhang. Technological innovation may be illusory and not the magic answer to our problems. What would happen in a world without growth?