The AFA without products

Authorised Financial Adviser Austin Fisher has left the corporate world and set up what he describes as "a new style" of advisory firm.

Wednesday, January 9th 2013, 8:07AM 2 Comments

Fisher's new firm, Truly Independent Financial Advice, doesn't sell any investment products, rather it provides information to people to help them make decisions

"I'm an AFA but I don't sell products," he says.

He says that under the new financial adviser regulations there are not enough advisers in the market place "doing the advice thing."

He bases this on the mark up of the AFA database which is heavily dominated by people who work with large firms as opposed to being independent financial advisers.

With his new business Fisher does presentations to groups of people on financial issues and charges and hourly fee for the services. Instead of selling products he will point people towards sources of information and advice. For instance he would recommend that someone sees an AFA.

As he sees it he is arming people with infomation to help them make decisions.

Fisher's background is in superannuation and KiwiSaver. He spent nearly five years at ASB and was the Head of Workplace Savings Distribution and six at AMP as a workplace savings specialist. Also he has worked for Mercer and Planit/Superlife.

One current issue he has strong views on the idea that KiwiSaver members should be put into lifestages products so that they have asset allocations changed to suit their age.

Fisher isn't against lifestages prodcuts, infact he has played a role in developing them. Rather he says investors need to make an informed decision to be invested in these sorts of funds as they are more complicated and generally have higher fees.

"It's not an option to fall into," he says. It's an option for people to choose."

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Comments from our readers

On 9 January 2013 at 12:58 pm John Milner said:

I wish you the very best Austin. Like communism, it's a great idea but it just does not work. Not for me any way. I need a business that can provide repeat business and is scalable. I also genuinely enjoy taking the long journey with the client; the good times and the bad. Offering advice from a distance is too cold and corporate for me.

On 9 January 2013 at 4:28 pm Austin Fisher said:

Thanks John

When I talk to people at workplaces, the main thing people seem to want is information.

As an industry, we are incredibly boring and lots of people don't read the stuff we send to them.

Sometimes talking to people in person is the ony way to get information across effectively. Teachers do this all the time (when they're not on the phone to Novopay).

Our material is in the same category as the "I accept" legal blurb you see online when you buy something. "I'm Sure it's Fine" is really what that button means.

Once they get the information, they can then assess whether they need personalised financial advice. I let them know what that means and how to get hold of it.

My work will increase the number of quality referrals to the nation's AFAs resulting in more of those personal, long-term relationships.

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