Australian banks are yet to fully realise their potential when it comes to the provision of financial advice, a number of wealth executive said.
"I don't think the banks, generally speaking, in Australia have really maximised their potential yet. I expect that will change in the next few years," ANZ general manager advice and distribution Paul Barrett said yesterday.
"But we also acknowledge that not everybody seeks financial planning advice from a bank."
Barrett, who was speaking as part of a panel session at the 'No More Practice' live event in Sydney, said from ANZ's perspective the banking group "want to have a diversified portfolio of financial advice businesses and dealer ships to enable us to access all Australians."
"When I say all Australians, I mean all Australians, from those who have very simple needs, those who have superannuation needs, right through to those who have very sophisticated needs and we take a multi-channel view if you like," he said.
"So there are customers who everyday walk into bank branches and absolutely expect that their bank branch manager can introduce them to someone who can avail them of expertise around financial advice.
"So from our perspective, in the spirit of looking after other people's money, we are attempting to do that right across Australia [in] most segments and [through] a variety of channels."
ANZ provides banking and advice services through its aligned dealer groups ANZ Financial Planning, Millennium3 Financial Services, RI Advice Group, and Financial Services Partners.
MLC accountant solutions national manager Nick Hilton said adopting a multi-channel approach is necessary for Australian banks due to their low "penetration" of financial solutions per customer.
"Some end consumers, because it is about the consumers at the end of the day, do not want to deal and get all their services from a bank," Hilton said.
"So you do need to have multiple channels for them to access so that they can get the advice and the solutions that they actually need."
The National Australia Bank-owned wealth manager provides advice through its dealer groups MLC/Garvan Financial Planning, Godfrey Pembroke Financial Consultants, and Apogee Financial Planning.
