The CEO of the AIOFP, Peter Johnston, reports on the genuine political power Financial Advisers have with their clients.
The big financial services lesson for all political Parties at the 2022 Federal Election is the realisation of the genuine political power Financial Advisers have with their clients.
The perception of power some do hold in the medical industries but when it comes to the ‘political crunch’, how often do patients talk about politics/money with their Doctor or Pharmacy attendant? Not often I venture to say…..but these two critical issues are front and centre to an Adviser/client interaction on an ongoing basis.
Without mentioning names [but you may guess], leading into the last election the AIOFP was ‘bullied’ by a Chief of Staff that unless we withdraw our marginal seat strategy, the Minister would not attend our conference and in the next breath, ‘Advisers don’t have any political pull with their clients anyway’.
Red rag to an old bull who had a client base for 25 years one might say, we promptly informed this person we did not want the Minister at our conference anyway as we could not guarantee safety.
We then went out of our way to prove this person wrong and targeted the Seat of Kooyong. There were 280 Advisers in that Seat and the result is now part of history, not sure how effective we were, but will take some credit for the result!
This has sent some fear through Canberra that the Advice community cannot be messed with. Imagine if we had 15,000 Advisers with 3 million clients and cash in the bank to grease the wheels of progress and all united? That’s 18% of the voting population and most seats have a margin of circa 12%.
It is fruitless being ‘loved’ by Politicians if we cannot get the job done…..fear is a far more effective motivator.
The Advice community has a great chance over the next 12 months to consolidate before the commencement of final 12 months of the electoral term for the current Government.
You can help by encouraging Advisers to back the AIOFP and support the Election Fund when released.
Regards.
Peter Johnston | Executive Director
Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals
Suite 1211, 1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004
P 1800 111 203, d 03 9863 7574, m 0418 857 621
www.aiofp.net.au | Download my business card
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