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Scaling practices depends on AI: FAAA

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19 November 2025 by Karren Vergara, Financial Standard

Article link: https://www.financialstandard.com.au/news/scaling-practices-depends-on-ai-faaa-179810663

The financial advice industry cannot rely on hiring more advisers to scale practices, rather it needs to prioritise the adoption of new technology that will also help meet unprecedented demand for advice over the next five years, this year's Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) Congress heard.

A spot poll conducted on day one of the annual event showed only 30% of more than 220 advisers are 'very confident' about scaling their practice without hiring more qualified advisers.

Forty-two percent of advisers are 'somewhat confident' and 27% are 'not confident at all'.

Hosting the session on the race to scale by 2030, Marin Wealth managing director Pedro Marin Ramirez said the most feasible way to do this, as well as meet the booming demand for advice in the short term, is by embracing the latest tools in artificial intelligence (AI).

"By the end of the decade, every Baby Boomer will be retired. There are currently 7.32 million Australians aged over 55 and the average age at the moment of retirement is 57. Of those, 1.36 million people are actively looking for an adviser," he said, citing Adviser Ratings data. Currently, about 10% of Australians have an adviser.

Taking 1.36 million and dividing it by the number of active advisers of about 15,500, this equates to potentially adding 90 new clients to the books, Marin Ramirez said, noting that the adviser population has not increased for some time.

"I cannot think of another profession that is in our position... because there's just not enough of us, and a humongous number of humans are going to need our services," he said.

"So, don't think that scaling is not an option. Think that scaling is a must. We just don't have the choice."

Poll results also show where AI can most add value. About half of advisers take 16 to 25 hours to deliver advice from gathering information, analysing, drafting documents to delivering advice. Some 27% take more than 25 hours while 3% said it takes less than eight hours.

The biggest bottleneck in the advice process is the preparation of the Statement of Advice for 38% of respondents. An equal portion of 23% said onboarding and fact finding, and compliance and documentation are onerous. The remaining 15% find modelling and strategy development takes the longest.

One example where some advisers are making progress in the speed to deliver is via Copilot's researcher agent. Advisers can feed it clients' budget and expenses, and it will spit out a cash-flow analysis in less than five minutes.

Retrac director Travis Carter, who co-hosted the session, said not only does it save time, but it provides a level of service to clients who may have not received a cash-analysis before.

"Five years from now to 2030 what does the industry look like? What does our technology stack look like? If we don't change the way we're doing financial advice now, then we're not going to be able to keep up with an unmet demand," Carter said.

"This is an income opportunity and revenue opportunity for each adviser, if we [start looking] at our processes and automate. The question is not, should we change? But it's how fast we can do it?"

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