It’s time to ditch the licensee moniker because it fails to capture the importance and value of the broad services and solutions they increasingly provide, AZ NGA’s Paul Barrett writes.

Three years ago, I penned an article for this publication on the Rise of the financial advice Super firm.  The rise of the financial advice super firm – Professional Planner

Over the years, I’ve received some flak for promoting the formation of large, multi-disciplinary Super firms, mainly from people who don’t like the inference that super means big.

Of course, being super is about so much more than size and scale.

It encompasses a myriad of factors including a compelling employee, client and shareholder proposition, a defined enterprise architecture, and a healthy culture. By that definition, firms of every size can, and should, be super. Interestingly, they tend to be on the large side.

Licensees should be super too.

That’s because operating a successful financial advice business has never been more demanding, complex and risky. Advisers need more from their licensee than ever before, so much so that the term licensee barely reflects the breadth and depth of services they increasingly provide.

Yet, despite the broader role of licensees and today’s changing operating environment, there has been no meaningful decline in the number of boutique and self-licensed firms. According to Adviser Ratings, over 80% of AFSLs are privately-owned and have under ten advisers.

While some take their obligations extremely seriously, it’s hard to imagine all 1518 of these AFSLs have the necessary skills and experience to run a complex licensing operation, let alone the ability to continuously invest in systems and processes, and help advisers grow their business.

But this is exactly what advice businesses need.

They need an experienced partner with the people, skills and capital to help them efficiently deliver quality advice, manage existing and foreseeable risks, and grow their business for the long-term benefit of employees, clients and shareholders.

It’s a big mandate and it’s only getting bigger, as businesses face new and emerging threats including digital disruption and cyber-attacks.

Read more of Paul Barrett’s articles in Professional Planner.