Monthly Archives: February 2021

2020 taught IT professionals that the near future will be mobile, cloud-based, and digitally transformed.

Or will he do it?

While there is ample evidence to suggest that some organizations have accelerated digital transformation projects in 2020 to deal with the fallout from the global pandemic, others have slowed down transformation work at a breakneck pace due to a lack of of certainty.

Since the introduction of SAP S / 4HANA in 2015, SAP customers know they will one day have to leave SAP ECC. Until SAP extended its support deadline for ECC a year ago from 2025 to 2027, that day was important.

If you are a current ECC customer, you might think you have more time to wait. I suggest you do not do it. In my opinion, you will need to make one of three choices in 2021:

• Sit well with ECC for now.
• Make plans – if not take action – to migrate to S / 4HANA.
• Consider options, including SAP alternatives.

Here’s a closer look at the realities of each option and why I think you’ll need to make a decision sooner rather than later.

The regulatory focus on life insurance advice may seem disproportionate to the business, given that 84 percent of financial advisers spend the majority of their time providing strategic advice on pensions, investments and other non-insurance issues according to Investment Trends.

As such, the regulator’s attention may soon shift to strategic investment advice.

This will likely coincide with the inevitable end of Australia’s nearly three decades of record economic prosperity.

Advisors need to be prepared for some tough questions about their approach to managing other people’s money. They must be able to articulate and demonstrate the robustness of their investment philosophy, processes and performance, including how they build and personalize portfolios, how they manage risk, and how they monitor and measure current performance.

For some advisors, luck has undoubtedly played a large role in their success to date. Above all, this represents a major risk for the future.

Over the past 20 years, Australian stocks, which account for around 21 percent of the average MySuper fund, have returned more than 8 percent per year.

Over the past decade, global stocks, which account for 29% of the average MySuper fund, have generated 8.6% per year.

Analysis of the performance attribution of the average advised portfolio would likely reveal that market movement (not skills) generated most of the returns. A rising tide lifts all the boats.

This does not overlook the importance of diversification and asset allocation, which, according to one study (Brinson, Singer and Beebower, 1991), account for more than 91.5% of a portfolio’s return. However, he questions whether strategic asset allocation or – for that matter – stock and manager selection and market timing are part of the strategic advice proposition.

In most cases, these are inputs to the investment process.

A structured approach

There is no standard approach to retirement and investing in the financial planning industry. Each practice does things differently.

Some rely heavily on their licensee’s research and recommendations to build portfolios. Others have developed their own money management rules and systems or take a laissez-faire approach.

For advisers belonging to a licensee, support takes three main forms: support on asset allocation, research into investment products (for managed funds and equities, etc.) and lists of approved products (APL). Some licensees also provide model portfolios, which advisors can duplicate, reject altogether, or pick whatever they like.

As long as they operate within the prescribed asset allocation and APL limits, advisers are more or less free to provide strategic investment advice as they see fit. This statement does not imply judgment but an honest assessment.

The point is, this traditional approach is under pressure for two main reasons.

1. Global economic uncertainty and political unrest, exacerbated by COVID-19

The strong historical performance of Australian stocks and real estate has masked loose investment processes within some advisory practices.

But it’s against a backdrop of sluggish economic growth, extreme market volatility, and protracted, ultra-low interest rates that advisers will need to prove their worth and justify their fees.

2. Put more emphasis on the value of advice

The shift to fees paid directly by the client puts more emphasis on value for money.

It’s more important than ever for advisors to refine their value proposition and be clear about the services they are providing and not providing.

For example, it may be tempting to take credit for asset allocation at the right times, but it is very difficult to consistently choose the best performing asset classes. Advisors must accurately represent their services, after all, they are not fund managers or asset consultants.

They do not set asset allocation goals, conduct in-depth manager and equity research, and do not actively trade.

Advisors provide personalized strategic advice. As part of their role, they leverage external information and input to create personalized portfolios to meet a client’s unique needs, goals and risk appetite.

As such, the performance benchmarks that some advisers use are not conventional but they must still be relevant. This is necessary to demonstrate that strict governance and risk management controls are in place.

Too many advisors are using outdated references that do not pass the ad test. For example, if the CPI plus 2% is their benchmark and they got a CPI plus 4%, they think they outperformed even though the rest of the market got a CPI plus 7% for the same level of risk and price. costs.

This is fraught with danger for everyone involved.

While the biggest indictment against the industry to date has been no-service charges, the next big test for advisors will demonstrate the value of service in their investment proposition, especially if clients are charged separately for this service.

Ensuring a comfortable retirement for Australian workers is too important to be left to chance, thus ensuring even greater scrutiny in the future of counseling processes and service delivery. Obviously, there is much more to consider given the far-reaching implications for all stakeholders. Critical to any solution, licensees must invest heavily to expand their capabilities and ensure they have the support they need to effectively help advisors establish, articulate, and deliver these services for the benefit of clients.

* Neil Younger is Group CEO and Managing Director of Fortnum Private Wealth.

The selection and subsequent election of Senator Kamala Harris to the post of vice-president serves, for Jennifer R. Farmer, as a beacon of hope and validation of what black women can achieve with hard work, tenacity and the support of their village and the alignment of the stars.

Farmer, a seasoned activist, public relations expert and practitioner, recently published “First and Only: A Black Woman’s Guide to Thriving at Work and in Life,” which discusses the challenges black women face when in the workplace. both the first and the only in professional spaces. and provides a roadmap to success.

“The book talks about the unrealistic expectations, racism, sexism and thinly disguised hostility associated with being the first or onlysaid Farmer, founder of Spotlight PR LLC, a boutique company specializing in communications strategy and training leaders and groups committed to social and racial justice. “While the appointment, selection or ascension of a black woman to an important role is exciting, there is an underbelly associated with career progression. “

“I’ve been doing this for 17 or 18 years,” said Farmer, from Columbus, Ohio, whose mother is from Barbados and whose father has Southern roots.

“My mother was very strict. We lived in poverty in subsidized housing where there was a high incidence of violence. Fortunately, my mother protected us. I wanted to escape the city I was in. What attracted me to public relations was wanting to get involved in racial justice – to advocate and help people tell their stories.

Farmer, an author and speaker known as “the PR Whisperer,” said she was looking for a union whose members wanted or needed publicity and were looking to tell their stories. She appreciated the way unions benefit society as a whole and was eventually hired by the Service Employees International Union.

In 2016, she founded Spotlight PR, a boutique company specializing in public relations and training for leaders and groups committed to social and racial justice. She works with a host of top clients including activist, rapper and businessman Michael Render aka Killer Mike – host of the Netflix show, “Trigger Warning with Killer Mike” and half of the rap duo Run the Jewels, Art, Beats & Lyrics; the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II; author Edgar Villanueva (Decolonizing Wealth); Bankhead Seafood; and various social justice organizations such as the Funders’ Collaborative for Youth Organizing, Repairers of the Breach, United Methodist Women and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

The mother-of-two said her motivation for writing the book was to approach and focus on the experiences of professional black women who were told they were too loud, aggressive, assertive, not nice enough, not enough or too much.

“I made the intentional decision not to speak to women of color because the experiences of black women need to be singularly mentioned,” said Farmer, a University of Rochester graduate. “I also feel like a lot of times people use women of color or people of color without distinguishing the unique experiences of various groups. I wanted to be clear that it’s okay to speak directly to black women without expecting our uniqueness to be overshadowed again. “

“I couldn’t manage like my white bosses and expected to hear the compliments they were getting. When I started to hear things like “you have to be nicer” I internalized it and believed that something was wrong with me as a human being.

“It wasn’t until I started being vulnerable and talking to other black women that I learned that we all heard comments that made us a problem with the workspaces around us. Hope black women find gems [in my book] to add to their toolbox to help them isolate themselves from noise, grow stronger, survive and thrive as a first or only Black woman in professional spaces or unique life experiences.

Farmer looks at the rise of women like Harris, Marilyn Mosby, Kim Foxx and Aramis Ayala who all broke barriers to become the first black women elected state attorneys in their respective cities and regions. The quartet represents trailblazers in an era when African American women broke glass ceilings and barriers in public spaces, including politics, commerce, media, medicine, and law enforcement.

Farmer said she was elated when President Joe Biden picked Harris as his running mate, but notes that from the moment Harris announced his intention to run for president, she faced headwinds of sexism, racism and gender bias.

“People expected Harris to put on a brave face, smile and perform superbly despite what she might have faced as the first and only one,” Farmer said months before Harris was picked.

“People will hold her accountable for things over which she has no control. Attacks will come from all sides, even from people you think are nearby. The obstacles she will have to overcome will be enormous, despite her partnership with a prominent Democrat. “

“She is still black, a person of color and a woman and with that she will have to face challenges,” she said.

“It’s not insurmountable, as his entire career has shown. But it is important that her village supports her, that she has spaces where she can be authentic and vulnerable, and that she walks to the beat of any drum that is comfortable and realistic for her.

Farmer took her own advice and said she always walked to be beaten with her own drum.

“This book is both a self-help guide and a business book focused exclusively on the unique challenges black women face in work and life,” she said.