An innovative approach to solving Australia’s advice gap

Financial advice remains out of reach for many young people, but through cutting-edge technology, Hudson Financial Partners may have found the answer. 

As we sit on the cusp of the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, Australia is facing a problem: most young people have never had formal financial advice. 

Data from a recent Adviser Ratings Landscape Report shows less than one in five Australians under age 45 receive advice, amid soaring property prices, new investment options, mounting debt levels and cost of living pressures. 

But for Hudson Financial Partners managing director Juanita Wrenn, sitting in a financial adviser’s office isn’t the answer. Instead, it’s a problem that requires everyone from educators to the planning profession to think outside the box. 

“The reality is most young people don’t need comprehensive financial advice. It only becomes necessary when you approach retirement and can start taking advantage of more complex strategies,” says Wrenn. 

“When they’re younger, what they need is education and reassurance.” 

From decades of working as a financial planner and manager, Wrenn has become aware of significant financial literacy knowledge gaps, which she says are critical to address before young people consider going down the pathway of full scope advice. 

“Some people don’t know what capital gains tax is, others don’t understand investment risk.”

Juanita Wrenn

Wrenn has seen how low confidence and knowledge gaps can have detrimental outcomes. For example, if someone doesn’t understand how markets behave over the long term, they may make decisions that harm their future wealth. 

The combination of this market insight and new, compliant technology has led to what Wrenn hopes will be one of the answers to the advice gap: an interactive digital kiosk designed to demystify financial planning. 

Visualising your future self

Hudson Financial Partners’ innovation starts with the assumption that people need to be introduced to advice gently and in a friendly setting. For that reason, the firm is piloting its new product, the Planning Booth, at select Westfield shopping centres. 

From October, shoppers will be able to step into a guided planning booth and access personalised financial modelling for $90 for 90 days. 

“It’s about exploring the “what ifs”, giving you space to model financial scenarios using software usually reserved for advisors, and discover fresh perspectives on your future.” 

Through AI, they can take a photo that ages them by decades, allowing them to visualise their future self. This makes the future feel real and shows why their future self will thank them for smart money decisions now. 

If they are aged 20-30, they can have their next few years mapped out with a personalised Statement of Advice (SoA) for $550 using the booth’s digital platform. After a quick set of questions about their goals, money habits, and how they’d handle big market changes, the shoppers receive a licensed SoA that shows strategies designed for them, from saving for a first home to boosting Super, to building an investment portfolio.  

This includes ETF recommendations from providers like Global X, VanEck, Vanguard and BetaShares. 

“The key is taking those first steps with confidence,” Wrenn says. “By making it accessible, we remove the intimidation factor and turn financial planning into something practical and achievable, something everyone should have.” 

For more information, visit hudsonfinancialplanning.com.au