AIA: The leadership vacuum

At a recent adviser conference, I participated in a leadership panel presentation which sought the answer to the question, ‘If I were running an adviser business, what would I do?'

In two years' time, who would be the winners, and why? What would your approach to the industry be?

To the question I answered simply that neither I nor my leadership colleagues on stage were probably qualified to speak with any authority because we all work for insurance companies and banks - but as ambitious optimists, we'd have a go. And our credentials are impressive when you think about it: we complicate products and process and wonder why advisers can't sell; we have all contributed to churn and then told everyone it is the adviser's fault; and we have failed to improve financial literacy, seemingly comfortable that our market has one of the lowest insurance take-ups in the OECD.

There is a real lack of leadership among the market participants that have the power to change this and demonstrate consumer value, namely, insurers, advisers and industry bodies. The high rate of leadership change within our industry and the impact of this are contributing factors, and have affected our collective focus, relevance and performance.