The advice industry is entering a period of significant change. Consumer expectations are shifting. Fewer advisers are in the profession than before. Technology is advancing faster than ever. Data is becoming more powerful. And the demand for trusted financial advice continues to grow.
One thing remains unchanged: the value of human advice.
The most important decisions people make about their financial future require expertise, judgement and trust, which cannot be replicated or replaced with technology. Technology’s role is to amplify the advice relationship. It should remove complexity, unlock capacity and enable advisers to focus on what they do best: build relationships, apply judgement and deliver trusted advice.
Solving the capacity challenge
Across the industry, advisers want the flexibility to do more. From supporting more clients and navigating increasing regulatory complexity to managing more data and uplifting efficiency.
At the same time, the need for advice continues to grow. Comprehensive advice takes an average of 8.8 hours (touch time) to deliver. The question we need to solve is how we create more capacity for advisers without compromising the quality, trust and personal connection that makes advice valuable.
At Iress, we believe technology has a critical role to play as an enabler. But the answer is not another standalone tool or another layer of complexity. It is technology that understands the advice process, connects the information advisers rely on, and removes the friction that sits between an adviser and their client.
Evolving from a trusted foundation
The thinking behind Xplan Evolution is that Xplan already has the engine: decades of advice expertise, deep data, powerful calculations, and trusted compliance capability.
We are not replacing that foundation. We are evolving the experience around it - making the capability easier to access, to navigate, and more valuable in the moments that matter.
Think about high-performance environments. Success doesn’t come from one component alone. It comes from the engine, the data, the technology, the driver and the team working together.
That’s the opportunity ahead for Xplan: taking an already powerful platform and creating the experience that allows advice professionals to extract maximum performance.
Starting with advice, not AI
There is understandably a lot of focus on AI right now. But we believe the biggest opportunity is not simply adding AI to existing processes. It is reimagining the advice journey first: understanding where advisers spend their time, where friction exists and where technology can create the greatest impact. Then it is about applying intelligence where it can make the biggest difference.
The future advice experience needs to be simpler, faster and more connected - bringing data, workflows and action together around how advisers actually work.
AI has enormous potential, but its value comes when it is embedded into trusted workflows, with the right context, the right controls and advisers firmly in the driver’s seat.
Shaped with the advice profession
We’re not building this in isolation. Over the past few months, we’ve engaged more than 130 customers through over 100 interviews and conversations across Australia, the UK and South Africa. Those conversations are directly shaping what we build - helping us understand where advisers need more support, where friction exists, and where technology can create the greatest impact.
We’re testing, learning and refining with the advice profession through rapid feedback loops, often within two to three weeks and sometimes within a day.
The next evolution of advice
Xplan Evolution is not a single product release. It’s a multi-phase, multi-year step change in how technology can support the future of advice.
We’re already delivering meaningful improvements today, while working towards a broader reimagining of the advice experience - one designed to make advice simpler, faster and more connected, with the ambition to materially reduce the time and effort involved in producing advice.
Because when advisers have more capacity, practices have the opportunity to serve more clients, with more people able to access quality advice.
This is the next chapter for Xplan, and a step towards reshaping how advice is delivered. We look forward to sharing more with our customers in November.
The first glimpse of Xplan Evolution is coming soon. Watch this space!
In the meantime: Prepare your practice for Xplan Evolution
