Run a smarter advice practice with insights from the industry's best.
The CSLR today announced it has revised the 2026/27 levy estimate from the initial estimate of $137.5 million to $198.1 million, with $190.3 million related to the financial advice sector. This means that a special levy of $170.3 million will be required. The CSLR operator announced on 17 November 2025 that the initial…
I come from a long line of business owners. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather all built businesses selling everything from bricks and glass to machinery. In my family, the ability to sell wasn’t seen as a personality trait. It was a core life skill. It showed up everywhere. Negotiating purchases. Conversing with…
Most advisers agree that referrals are the most powerful source of new clients. Yet many firms leave them to chance. The advisers who consistently receive referrals do not rely on luck or awkward asks. They build simple, repeatable habits around feedback, reviews, and appreciation. Referrals and reviews are closely linked.…
A surge in new entrants and a shifting talent pipeline is changing the mix of candidates advisers are seeing. Here’s what’s actually happening and what it means for your next hire. Watch now Alisdair Barr is Founder & CEO at Striver, a HR-Tech platform designed to help financial planning firms more effectively attract and…
Generative and deterministic AI fail in very different ways. Knowing which one you're using is becoming a professional skill. AI is not one thing. For advisers, two types matter, and the difference is not well discussed by AI providers. Generative AI writes and reasons in language. Deterministic AI computes against fixed…
With the new financial year around the corner, every practice I speak to is running the numbers. Client fees, wages, software subscriptions and yes, the paraplanning line item. Timelines have already blown out across the industry and advisers are asking the same question: can we get this done cheaper? It is a fair…
Scaled advice never really took off. It always felt too time-intensive to gather all the context, or too resource-heavy to deliver. In this video, I explain why scaled advice is back on my radar, and how technology is making it easier than ever to deliver concise, targeted advice that still sits on a solid discovery…
Part 2 of 2 | The digitally enabled adviser series Recently I wrote about new Anthropic research showing that financial guidance is one of the most overrepresented AI use cases in Australia. That the advice gap is being filled — not by the industry, but by a general-purpose AI that any Australian can access for free. If…
Most of us got into this profession because we wanted to make a genuine difference to people's lives. And yet, if we're honest, it's easy to fall into a pattern where client reviews become a ritual of checking super balances, rebalancing portfolios, and ticking compliance boxes. For retiring clients especially, that…
If you ask financial advisers what really drives their business, most won’t say revenue, compliance, or even performance. They’ll say relationships. Strong client relationships sustain advice businesses through market volatility, regulatory change, and fee pressure. They underpin referrals, retention, and trust. Yet,…
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What if you could automate your most time-consuming CommPay admin tasks? Stop running reports and uploading files manually, and start investing that time back into other business needs. It's time to reclaim your firm's most valuable asset: time When it comes to maximising efficiency in CommPay, what we often hear from…
So far, we’ve journeyed through the evolution of WealthSolver, from its SuperSolver roots to its powerful backend configurations, research abilities, and deep dive scenario modelling. But as the Australian advice landscape shifts, so does the complexity of the problems we need to solve. With the Retirement Income Covenant…
Whether you’re an old hand at WealthSolver or a newbie just getting your head around this indispensable advice tool, there's always more to discover. WealthSolver, like many Xplan tools, is full of hidden valleys, harbouring lesser explored secrets which may make your advice journey that much smoother. Oftentimes, we get…
We are aware that the Financial Services Council (FSC) and the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) recently released updated Customer Identification Forms (published 7 May 2026) to align with recent AUSTRAC regulatory updates. We have received a number of inquiries from users asking when these new forms will be…
Did you know you can now roll multiple super funds into a single account on one screen without having to pass the money through a "transfer account" first? Why? The old way of moving money between funds was a bit of a treasure hunt and involved way too many steps. This update lets you consolidate Superfund 1, Superfund 2…
Who says research has to be a chore? In our previous posts, we looked at how WealthSolver evolved from its ‘SuperSolver’ roots into a powerhouse for compliance and automation. But if you’re only opening WealthSolver when you’re deep inside a client’s file, you’re missing out on half the fun. Welcome to the WealthSolver…
In our previous article, Unlocking the full potential of WealthSolver, we explored how this module serves as the primary engine for product comparison and fee analysis. But as any seasoned Xplan user knows, an engine is only as effective as its calibration. While the "front end" allows you to run scenarios and compare…
Who remembers when WealthSolver was ‘just’ SuperSolver? SuperSolver was built to solve a very specific problem: the complexity of comparing Australian superannuation funds. At the time, industry funds and retail funds had vastly different fee structures, and comparing "apples-to-apples" was a nightmare for advisers.…
As any executive chef knows, earning a Michelin star is one thing; keeping it is the real challenge. A five-star restaurant doesn't become the best and then stop. It retains its star by relentlessly pursuing perfection. It adapts. It refines. It evolves. It introduces a seasonal menu. In your Xplan practice, this is the…
I don't know about you, but I enjoy the drama of watching an episode of Hells Kitchen just to see that infamous celebrity chef lose his cool and throw a plate full of food at his up-and-coming potential protégés. But let's be real here: drama can stay where it belongs, which is on the TV and not in Xplan. So why let Xplan…
Everything you need to know about running a successful back-office.
How to create outstanding experiences that build trust and loyalty.
Advice practices share what they’re doing to achieve success in their business.
Industry insights on the changing landscape and future of advice.
