While several years have now passed since the Global Financial Crisis challenging aftermaths still remain. Fiscal stimulus and monetary policy implemented by most governments across the globe have struggled to lift economic activity to prior highs. A low or even negative interest rate environment has made it inherently harder for fund managers and investors to attain meaningful returns without undertaking higher risks.

The reputational impact of the GFC across the funds management industry was unprecedented. Investors wanting to avoid losses withdrew their investments and looked to recoup their shortfalls by holding portfolio managers accountable and responsible for the severe market and economic downturns. From retail to wholesale, investors became skeptical of the skillsets and capabilities of portfolio managers.

In addition to a tarnished perception and a post GFC vulnerable economic environment, political uncertainties including the Refugee crisis, Brexit, US elections and a Chinese slowdown to name a few, made markets more volatile and difficult to navigate making it harder to deliver consistent returns.

While the funds management industry has gradually evolved since the GFC it has probably done so at a slower pace as it has faced several challenges. From regulation overhauls to unprecedented market scenarios the funds management industry has had to maneuver through difficult environments. However, without a doubt modern advances in technology and education are reshaping the financial services sector posing opportunities and challenges for the funds management industry.

The post GFC landscape for funds management is a brave new world:

Regulations - Fund Managers have had to adapt their operations to accommodate new regulation regimes demanded by governments who imposed hefty fines for noncompliance but offered no solutions or little guidance for their practical implementation.

Client - Post GFC skeptical client psychology and distrust - Investors demand clarity, liquidity, transparency and scrutinise fees like never before, posing challenges to the implementation of investment strategies beyond their financial literacy and comprehension. For this reason clearly articulating value propositions, providing educational material and undertaking a coaching approach throughout the sales process has become essential for client acquisition.

Product - In addition to a more demanding investor market, finding yield and producing meaningful returns for investors has become inherently harder due to contracting economies as well as monetary policy resulting in low or even negative interest rates. Political uncertainties have also made markets more volatile posing challenges to navigate markets and deliver consistent returns over time.

Communication - The social media revolution has raised the bar on the expectations for ongoing communications as well as magnified noise and media hype intensifying the investment journey. Managing expectations and taking a proactive approach on client communications has become more essential than ever to ensure client retention. Communications are also expected to be clear, short, information rich and visually appealing.

Service - Design, user friendliness, client portals, ease of access via mobile devices, apps, chat bots, live and visual data, online applications are now part of modern expectations and something that investors can place as much focus and consideration as investment returns prior to selecting a portfolio manager.

Operations - Disruptive technologies that can give you or your competitors a competitive edge are constantly emerging. Keeping abreast and reviewing systems that can automate and streamline operations has become vital as they can reduce operational costs which can translate into lower fees for investors giving fund managers a commercial advantage. `

Competition - As the financial services industry evolves, competition in the future will stem not only from mainstream asset classes and markets but from non-traditional fintech propositions. Developments in crowd funding, robo-advice, big data analytics, algorithms, peer-to-peer based platforms and virtual currencies among others are set to evolve as well as seek to gain market share.

According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) top banking executives fear that more than 20% of their traditional financial services will be at risk to fintechs by 2020.

A Goldman Sachs research report in 2015 estimated that ($4.7 trillion out of $13.7 trillion) in revenue from traditional financial services is at risk of being displaced by new fintech entrants with propositions across lending, wealth management, payments and others.

According to a McKinsey’s report in 2015 as much as 40% of revenue in retail banking, consumer finance, mortgages, small-business lending, retail payments and wealth management – are at risk from fintech startups seeking to attain market share away from the banks.

For this reason innovation teams that keep abreast of the advantages, limitations and implications of emerging technologies and fintech propositions should play an integral part in business strategy and planning.

Innovation teams can grow your value proposition by identifying opportunities for product upgrades, strategic partnerships and acquisitions to help ensure that offers remain at the forefront in the market place.

In addition they can also help identify your competitive edge over new market entrants enabling businesses to voice and create awareness of their value add over new offers which can be critical to retain market share.

In conclusion the above challenges highlight the critical importance of having core agile business structures and systems in place, as well as closely monitoring emerging technologies to ensure you can evolve your operations in due course and succeed in adapting to an increasingly fast paced environment.

Strategic view point by Carlos Mauleon - Director & Founder of BIZNEX Consulting – Strategic Business Initiatives & Marketing for Financial Services

Financial Insights Australia FIA 30th of Nov 2016 group discussion take-outs

With noise, politics and drama taking center stage and blurring the big picture during this controversial US election, we conducted impartial research and subsequently held a group presentation and discussion session with financial professionals and avid investors to get insight that could help us see through the media clutter and visualize possible market implications for Australia under Trump’s proposed policies.

THE PERCEIVED KEY QUESTIONS FOR AUSTRALIA IN LIGHT OF TRUMPCONOMICS:

1) If the US was to impose trade tariffs on China, would China devalue the Yuan? What would the implications be for Australia?

2) Could the US abandon the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement? What is at stake for Australia?

3) Can we expect more economic activity in the US during 2017? If so would this actually translate into more demand for Australian goods and services?

4)Why corporate tax cuts might not longer be as effective in boosting economic activity in today's modern environment?

THE U.S. & AUSTRALIA TRADE RELATIONSHIP:

While Australia is a minor trading partner for the United States, the U.S. is the 2nd biggest trading partner for Australia. Trade in both terms of import and export have been rising through the years.

Australian exports to the U.S. constitute around 21% of GDP making Australia particularly vulnerable if Trump was to impose high trade tariffs and quotas.

Will things change in a positive or negative direction under Trump’s presidency?

TARIFFS & QUOTAS

Trump has suggested imposing 45% trade tariffs on Chinese imports, instructing the Treasury Secretary to label China as a currency manipulator and bring trade cases against China, both in the US and at the WTO.

1) If the US was to impose trade tariffs on China would China devalue the Yuan? What would be the implications for Australia?

Would the US impose tariffs on China?

Given that China, Canada and Mexico are the main trading partners of the US it is perceived that imposing tariffs of this scale would increase import costs for the US subsequently resulting in inflationary pressures. This in turn would suggest that it would seem unlikely for tariffs of this magnitude to be implemented by the US Yet if it was the case that would lead us to the following question:

Could trade tariffs trigger China to devalue the Yuan?

China has been accused of manipulating their currency in multiple occasions to boost exports in the past and in recent years as its GDP growth has been declining.

The implications of a lower Yuan/Renminbi for Australia?

A lower Yuan poses significant challenges for the Australian resources sector and the overall economy as the mining industry backed by Chinese demand has been one of the main economic drivers for Australia.

We don’t have to go too far back in time to see how sensitive Australian markets are about a sudden depreciation of the Yuan. The sudden depreciation of the Yuan in 2015 proved to be of more concern and more volatile for Australian markets than the Brexit and the US elections.

We saw a quick sell of mining and resource companies in Australia. More expensive Australian commodity and resource prices from a Chinese standpoint translate into less demand hence smaller cash flows for Australian companies in these sectors.

These movements by implication brought an immediate ASX correction of about 1.7 % lower at 5,382, and the broader All Ordinaries fell 90 points to 5,384.

The Australian dollar fell as much as 1 percent to touch a six-year low of $0.7216, while the New Zealand dollar eased 0.6 percent to trade at its lowest since July 2009 against the US dollar.

Southeast Asian currencies were similarly scared; the Singapore dollar dropped to a five-year low of 1.41, while the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit reached lows unseen since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) in 1998.

THE TRANSPACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TPP

Trump has suggested that he will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified

2) Could the US abandon the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP agreement? What is at stake for Australia?

The TPP negotiations are highly beneficial for Australia as it is the first concrete step towards realizing the long-term vision of a Free Trade Area across the Asia-Pacific.

There are over 12 countries negotiating the agreement including – Australia - Brunei Darussalam – Canada – Chile - Japan - Malaysia - Mexico - New Zealand – Peru - Singapore - The United States - Vietnam

70% of Australia's trade flows through this region.

44% of all Australian outward investments was within the TPP region in 2015

$105 billion of Australia’s goods and services exports was estimated to flow into these region in 2015 – a third of Australia’s total exports.

It is estimated that the TPP would eliminate more than 98% of tariffs in the TPP region with a value estimated around US$9 billion worth of tariffs for Australia’s dutiable exports.

U.S. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Whether Trump policies will boost the US economy or will derail it into recession has proven highly controversial. Under the magnifying glass is the possible impact behind the proposed corporate and income tax cuts and whether they will translate into more economic activity.

3) Can we expect more economic activity in the US during 2017? If so would this actually translate into more demand for Australian goods and services?

We found view points and research on both sides of the fence. Some backing the view of a more prosperous United States of America in store for 2017 and others predicting a recession to take place.

However we also found corporate tax cut scenarios that took place in the past in economies such as Canada and Australia where corporate tax reductions didn’t translate into the expected economic activity and business investment.

A Warning From Canada: How Cutting Corporate Tax Did More Harm Than Good https://goo.gl/T6jMwx

In order for there to be more economic activity resources need to be employed more effectively. Will tax cuts lead to more jobs?

Using the tax cuts granted during the 2008 financial crisis as reference point we can see that this isn't always the case. Businesses saved or used money from the Bush tax cuts and the TARP bailouts to send it out to stockholders as dividends, repurchase their stock or invest overseas. None of those activities created the jobs needed to boost the economy.

THE CHALLENGE THAT COMES WITH TECHNOLOGY

4)Why corporate tax cuts might not longer be as effective in boosting economic activity in today's modern environment?

Economies have turned more technology-intensive than labor intensive. Businesses are more likely to use tax cuts to buy computers and other labor-saving equipment than to create new employment opportunities.

We love insights let us know what you perceive are the main challenges and opportunities in store for Australia during 2017

JOIN Financial Insights Australia

Be part of networking events, presentations and discussions across all types of investment asset classes, markets and industry trends. Share your vision, investment passion and perceived market opportunities and learn from the insights of like minded individuals and industry professionals.

From Financial Planning, Managed Funds, Bonds, ETFs, Private Equity, Property, Accounting, Alternative Investments or anything in between and more drop by to stay on top of the trends.

Leverage from collective knowledge to explore market opportunities. Exchange view points on emerging trends and future investment landscapes.

Build a network and a community in line with your interests and expertise.

We look forward to exchange insights and viewpoints with you.

Sincerely,

Stay on top of the trends, follow us on Twitter we will be posting great insights and material.

How a week in Financial Planning looks like?

It is very demanding and challenging to run a business. Financial Services can be particularly challenging as it involves articulating intangible assets and understanding clients' objectives and circumstances. Navigating financial products and markets to facilitate objectives requires sound knowledge, active involvement and thorough consideration. None the less it can help achieve life goals.

Strategic view point by Carlos Mauleon Director & Founder of BIZNEX Consulting - Strategic business initiatives for Wealth Management

Picture how far you could take your business working hard at it for 4 years. Set business goals keep an Olympic mindset and go get your business goals.

How is entrepreneurship similar to training for the Olympics?

Seeing the Olympians train and compete at the Olympics is inspiring to say the least. Their dedication and how they push their boundaries every day to participate and make the Olympics possible is admirable and motivational.

There are clearly some similarities when it comes to training for the Olympics and running a business, as entrepreneurship is like an elite sport that many aspire to, not many have venture into and where we see the best ones reach great heights.

Here are some similarities between entrepreneurship and the Olympic challenge:

Passion, training & practice, practice, practice - You may have discovered what you are really good at and that you really enjoy. Then it’s key to dig deep to find out what’s the main driver for your passion. Holding on to that driver and train, train, train.

Sacrifice - Missing out on fun, social, travel, family activities as well as financial stability and career risks can be extremely difficult however it’s possible with supportive family and friends.

Failures - Every day we fail and we learn. Think of the times we need to finish on the second, third, hundredth place before even being able to make it to the top of the podium on a local, national or international level.

Self-belief - We wear our failures like a badge as a reminder to try again and try harder. Key is to remember your drive and why you are doing this in the first place. Many times you’ll need to back yourself and be your biggest cheerleader.

Best teams and coaches - The best results are made with the best teams and coaches. You will have to surround yourself with people that share your passion and that will inspire and motivate you to try even harder.

Tools & technology - You will need to have the right tools, equipment and technology to help you manage and measure your performance. We all have good weeks and bad weeks. Using analytics to identify areas of improvement and find out what are the key underlying drivers for good or bad performance.

Continuous improvement - Every day you need to take small steps to improve yourself and big leaps to help you make a step change. Keep moving, innovating and improving to surpass prior records.

Competition - Oh and competition.It might be our worst nightmare but also something that can give us that extra adrenaline and push.

Collaboration – The power of collaboration is exponential. Big events like the Olympics require enormous collaboration and planning to make things happen. Work as a team and leverage from collaboration and you will experience synergies and achieve things well above your individual reach.

Keep an Olympic mindset and go get your business goals.

Let us know what are your business goal for 2017 and stay motivated with a FREE business goals info graphichttp://goo.gl/vuOIS3to start your Entrepreneurial Olympics 2020 journey - Do you got what it takes to get there?

BIZNEX Consulting - Strategic Roadmaps - Your BIZNEX Partner - www.biznexconsulting.com.au

Collaboration beats competition.

Are you in financial services looking to grow or start your business?

Join our collaborative workshops/meetups to explore synergies with businesses and entrepreneurs in the financial services space. Fuel your business or bring new ideas to life.

Leverage from the power of collaboration and collective knowledge to discover new opportunities, value propositions, referral partners, partnerships, tackle business challenges and grow or create your business.

Share your business vision and challenges to discover collaboration opportunities to achieve win win outcomes and move your business forward.

The skills and know how that you might need to bring new ideas or grow your business might be here and eager to collaborate with you.

Initiative supported by

BIZNEX Consulting

This info-graphic is a summary of events monitored by BIZNEX Consulting through out 2015 and it is to be used for informational purposes only. While due care has been taken to present this information BIZNEX Consulting takes no responsibility for any potential errors. If you would like to know how BIZNEX Consulting can help you keep your business up to speed with the changing environment visit www.biznexconsulting.com.au

ASIC on the Fintech start-up scene. The balancing act between regulation and innovation.

ASIC's views and standing on hot topics: Roboadvice – Equity crowdfunding – Crypto currencies – Financial services licencing

@biznexstrategy @ASIC_connect #fintech or

e-mail consulting@biznex.com.au

ASIC and Financial Innovation 15/09/2015

There has been a lot of media lately on fin-tech concepts, disruption in financial services, new business models, the overall need for support across start-ups worldwide to foster innovation and the Sydney start up scene is commencing to gain traction.

I recently attended a really interesting presentation trying to bridge the gap between financial services regulation and innovation, the main purpose of the meet up was focused on ASIC's efforts to support fintech activity in Australia.

Worth noting

ASIC representatives commented on the importance of waiving legislation that would be regarded as ineffective and the need for ongoing reviews to ensure that legislation is not deterring progress and innovation in financial services.

ASIC has established a digital advisory committee and an innovation team who will focus in reviewing fintech solutions and concepts and will also assist startups in understanding licencing requirements, which seems as a step in the right direction.

Critical considerations in ASIC’s assessment to provide assistance:

Well-developed business modelRationale for business innovation - Why is your concept innovative?Potential to bring benefits to consumersLevel of understanding of the regulatory hurdles and requirements

ASIC’s stand and views on tech developments:

Robo Advice: A Robo Advice review team has been set up by ASIC that will be monitoring initiatives and defining licencing and obligations requirements.

Crypto currencies: ASIC regarded crypto currencies not to be financial products but acknowledged that the blockchain technology has potential to be fully disruptive. The accountability of each party would need to be defined clearly going forward.

Equity Crowdfunding: Consideration and attention is being given to the legislation frameworks that must be reviewed and assessed to ensure this concepts do not pose risk to end users. Given that the review is still under way they advised potential participants to reserve themselves from running with certain initiatives until there is more clarity on the requirements and obligations around platform and service providers.

Financial Services licencing: While different degrees of compliance would be required based on the business concept the regulatory layers will be applied based on personal, general advice and factual information, as well as the sophistication of the target audience.

The Opportunities

In my view technology has opened the door for a re-imagination of financial services. It now enables creative entrepreneurs to come up with solutions and services that can translate into cost and time savings for consumers. It also enables the dissemination of financial services into markets and segments that in the past did not have access due to size or scale.

Technology and big data gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to better understand global issues and global needs enabling Australia to add value internationally and at the same time capitalise from identifying and developing solutions that can add value globally.

The Risksof not providing support at equivalent international levels

Lack of support towards entrepreneurial activity and innovation can entice entrepreneurs to seek support and assistance through other programs or countries outside Australia,

Not encouraging and supporting an innovative mindset in order to remain at the forefront of innovation reduces opportunities to capitalise globally as a first market mover.

The Challenges

Starting a business is by all means very challenging and start-ups in financial services can be particularly challenging as there are licencing and compliance requirements that must be adhered to.

In addition to licencing requirements and costs which can take between 2 and 4 months to attain there are other pieces of legislation and other regulators to consider which can make the journey from start up to commercialization longer and expensive – a few to mention are APRA, Privacy, AML/CTF.

These additional considerations, time allocation and funding requirements can pose challenges to the development of fintech initiatives and in turn discourage innovation around financial services.

Efforts and cooperation are being sought by ASIC to aid fintech concepts access international markets if the concept is scalable or has global reach potential.

From a start-up view point ASIC could assist fin- tech start-ups with the following:

Lead by example and keep incorporating modern technologies within their administration. It would be great if it was possible to register a business and make the registration payment by conducting an electronic transfer as opposed to having to submit a cheque at a bank branch. Simple efficiencies add up translating into time savings for new businesses and fintech start-ups

In summary

ASIC seems to be open to discuss and understand the challenges and needs faced by start-ups and entrepreneurs and has implemented a digital advisory committee and a team that will review fintech solutions.

The challenge is not just encouraging innovation but to provide support to enable fintech ideas to materialise into realities that can translate into cost and time savings for consumers not just locally but globally.

Lack of can entice entrepreneurs to seek support and assistance through other programs or countries outside Australia, while lagging behind innovation reduces opportunities to add value globally and capitalise as first market movers and makers.

Both parties start-ups and ASIC will need to learn from each other on this journey to capitalise from creativity and capture local and global opportunities.

Share your thoughts @biznexstrategy @ASIC_connect #fintech or e-mail consulting@biznex.com.au

Join Financial Insights Australia to share financial industry insights and market viewpoints.

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Strategic View Point by Carlos Mauleon Senior Manager of Strategic Business Initiatives at BIZNEX Consulting www.biznexconsulting.com.au

BIZNEX Consulting - Strategic Roadmaps - www.biznexconsulting.com.au

Your BIZNEX Partner.

NIW take outs 02-09-2015:

China - Youth Unemployment - US - RBA interest rates - Australian dollar - Domestic Property -Property Bubble - Australian equities - International equities - Inflation charts

Dear investment surfers, thank you for attending the NIW discussion and for sharing your insights and viewpoints.

We look forward to see you again to surf the Next Investment Wave which we intend to run in abouts a month’s time.

I have summarised below some of my take outs which are a reflection of our discussions.

Interesting information

The World Bank estimates that a 1 percentage-point decline in China’s growth shaves a half percentage-point off global growth.

That means if forecasters such as Lombard Street Research, whose projection for the year is more than 3 percentage points below Beijing’s official rate of 7%, are right, a Chinese nosedive would ax 1.5 percentage points off global growth.

With the IMF estimating global growth of 3.5% this year, the world economy can ill afford such a decline.

Inflation charts worth reviewing and great food for thought

We sincerely value your participation and would welcome your feedback and ideas. If there are any initiatives that you would like us to consider or contribute towards please get in touch.

You are most welcome to share your insights and take outs via the comment box below.

We look forward to see you at the Next Investment Wave.

Join the linkedin group Next Investment Wave NIW and carry on leveraging from collective knowledge and stay up to speed with up comming networking events.

@NIWnetwork #NIWnetwork

Regards,

Carlos Mauleon

Next Investment Wave (NIW) - Take outs 15/07/2015 -

•Australian Property

•What happened in China?

•What caused the decline in the Chinese stock market?

•Repercussions of Greece exiting the Eurozone?

•US interest rate hikes

•Uranium

•Pink Diamonds

•Sites worth noting

Australian Property

The latest episode with the Chinese stock market could entice Chinese investors to look for investment options offshore and consider options such as Australian Property.

In general while Australian property prices are at historical highs the underlying factors that have driven capital growth trends in the past such as low interest rates, steady wages growth, low inflation and access to leverage, not to mention higher demand due to immigration and slower building supply, could carry on in the foreseeable future.

Good credit rates are currently available in the market.

What happened in China?

The stock market rallied by over 120% and subsequently declined by 30% which prompted authorities to intervene by freezing stock market activity to prevent further declines.

What seems to have increased trading activity and population participation in the stock market? "Shadow banking in China" Institutions that provide credit services outside the mainstream banks were providing loans enabling investors to use equity as collateral.

What caused the decline in the Chinese stock market?

Reaching historical highs normally triggers stock sell offs as investors are sceptical that the trends could carry forward. This move subsequently produced a decline in stock prices triggering investors to try to exit their positions. The implication of these declines for geared investors was that they had to exit positions to meet loan requirements.

Interesting facts - shadow banking in China represents about 69% of the market. This suggests that China may have lost a degree of control over their monetary policy.

Declines in economic activity stemming from China are likely to reduce global growth forecasts.

Repercussions of Greece exiting the Eurozone?

According to Bill Gross from PIMCO a Greexit from the euro zone has the potential to trigger Bond sell offs. It is estimated that it could produce volatility across international equity funds.

This would very likely have a long term impact on the economic recovery in Eurozone, which is clearly in a very sensitive condition.

US interest rate hikes

15 out of 17 board members consider that an increase in interest rates is prudent yet the IMF has been suggesting the US not to increase rates given the global economic conditions.

After 6 years of near 0 interest rates and 3 quantitative easing rounds it's still hard to assess whether the correction momentum in the markets is sustainable or just an artificial recovery due to fiscal stimulation.

Uranium

Unique market conditions. Global demand is expected to double during 2016 to 2020 for which the price is expected to double. 50% cheaper than oil and coal. Lower mining supply and higher demand is driving prices. The Fukushima reactor situation caused prices to decline.

When the price of the underlying commodity doubles in price stocks can appreciate 4 to 8 times in value.

Pink Diamonds

17% return p.a. over a 10 year period, depending on the class, complex grading scale. Investment can take place via super funds under specific conditions. https://goo.gl/9bbmbV

Sites worth noting

Openshed where you can rent your household goods

This information does not take into account your personal circumstances and objectives and is for general information only. Before making any investment decision, we recommend you seek professional advice that factors into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs. While due care has been provided while drafting this summary, before relying on any material contained on this site, users should independently verify its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes.

We look forward to surf the next investment wave with you.

Sincerely NIW

Register for our up coming meet up

Share your #makemyday Technology which has changed the tune of your business and expose the ones that should be eliminated to make your day.

Cheques, faxes, paper applications, paper receipts, notes and coins, excel CRMs, paper flyers.

What should be eliminated or reviewed in your business to make your day. #makemyday @biznexstrategy

I don't mean to scare you, but if you are still using some of these, you are probably behind the wave and could be an endangered business specie, frustrating your customers and employees.

How much time does it take in the modern environment to fall behind the technological waves? How fast do you need to move to stay ahead of them?

We are all aware that in business you rather swim than sink, but how fast do you need to swim to stay ahead of the pack in the modern environment?

Financial professions can be very time consuming and involve big responsibilities, leaving little time, if any, to stay on top of social trends and stay up to speed with modern technologies.

In our view, in the ever changing environment you almost need to stay on top of technological developments in the same way as a trader keeps an eye on financial markets.

Missing out to know about a specific application or system can mean doom or gloom in business.

How has the landscape changed?

If we look around us, while it took some time, the biggest banks have incorporated financial innovation units, upon realizing that being too big and bureaucratic makes them vulnerable to disruptive start-ups. They are also now trying to enter the start-up scene and funding venture capital funds, to hopefully get a cut of that fintech idea that you might as well be part of rather than compete against.

The need to stay on top of technological trends goes beyond top banks and financial institutions and works in the same way for independent finance professionals or boutique firms who are likely to be unable to afford an innovation or technological tracking unit of their own.

Taking the Financial Planning industry, which is a very energy demanding occupation, with enormous client responsibilities, as an example.

Given the time involvement required with developing SOAs, keeping up to speed with legislation, markets, engaging and understanding clients among many others, leaves them with little time, if any, to stay on top of technological and social trends, so they are likely to struggle and fall behind these fields.

There is a universe of technological developments, which can give you an edge or pose a threat to your business.

In our view, growth opportunities are up for grabs for those who manage to stay ahead for the trends and incorporate technologies fast, yet that is truly easier said than done.

The Good

If you are more or less in tune with technology you would grasp the mechanics of social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Blogs and can potentially understand some basic web development jargon.

You would have ventured to create: marketing campaigns - video material - incorporated a CRM - use online forms and applications to feed information directly into your CRM - reach out virtually to clients - promote events via social media channels - produce thought leadership insights

Your lead generation pipeline is created by your own proactive efforts. You are trying to add value in every way possible.

Importantly you would have realized the amount of time involved and associated with researching technology, managing social media, generating content, marketing material and running events.

The challenge is that you are tempted to do all these things yourself and the issue is that there is an opportunity cost associated with allocating energy to these activities, which in reality is harming your business, because you are not allocating your skill sets to their best use.

The Clunky

You haven’t really considered or placed and effort in getting exposure in social channels. Your website was created 6 years ago by a web developer and its content has been frozen in time and it's composed by raw text and poor images.

You are keeping paper records and using excel as a CRM or a very clunky system.

E-mail campaigns if any are a manual challenge

You get occasional leads from word of mouth but are heavily dependent on referral partners who rarely get to see referral reciprocity. Your fate depends on the success and generosity of other businesses which you do not control.

Your systems, processes and data entry involvement have set you in a work spiral, where you have very limited time, if any, to allocate towards running new project initiatives.

The challenge is making the time to spin out of the spiral and gain more minutes in your balance sheet to allocate to more fruitful activities.

The Bad

Your actions and your message are incongruent. You claim to be looking to add value and be customer centric, yet it really doesn't show in the infrastructure that you provide for clients to deal with you.

Your website if any states your occupation and your name and number. Your proposition is poorly presented, it’s hard for customers to see the love and passion that you have in your occupation.

Your business image projects little interest in improving your services and truly adding value and you are not experimenting and trying new approaches to improve things.

Your business image might be deterring others from considering you as a referral partner.

Your CRM is your e-mail clogged with other spam.

Customers really need to adapt to your framework as opposed to be the other way around.

You constantly request referrals, yet you really never think about identifying referral or business opportunities for other businesses.

The challenge is the learning curve to get up to speed with social trends and technology and evaluating and analyzing your business attitudes.

The Good News

Wherever you are at we are here to help your business grow and stay inline with modern expectations and leverage from technological developments.

The good news is that you can really assemble lean business models fairly quickly and inexpensively and create new ones by assembling several technologies together.

We are being empowered in such ways that creativity is really giving businesses wings and allowing start-ups to quickly come to life.

The creativity contest is on.

The Bad News

Businesses at par with technology can quickly fall behind and while new opportunities are at grasp, competitiveness will intensify.

It might not sound very motivational, but I would say a contingent commercial obsolescence and an exit strategy needs to be engraved into every business plan.

Running a single company or value proposition throughout your career might be a thing of the past as reinventions and pivoting will be imperative.

What we are doing to help?

We lifted BIZNEX Consulting to act as an independent ally to help businesses across financial services stay on top of technologies and identify trends, that can give them a better sense of direction for their business.

How do we do this? We bring Financial services professionals into one hub specializing in research, marketing, technology and count with consulting know how to ensure we bring solutions in line with your needs, requirements and capabilities.

Having formed part of the industry we strongly believe in the benefits that these professions can bring to the overall market and for that reason we want to help businesses in this sector succeed and add value to customers.

Now Make your day

Let us know what technologies and systems are The Good, The Clunky and the ones that should be reviewed and eliminated in your business to make your day. #makemyday @biznexstrategy

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Strategic View Point by Carlos Mauleon Manager of Strategic Business Initiatives at BIZNEX Consulting www.biznexconsulting.com.au

It’s counter intuitive, but in business placing yourself in the mindset of not spending money can actually be costing you money.

How does that work?

A very simple economic notion which is well understood in theory, but yet is often neglected in practice, is costing businesses money and could be slowing business growth significantly.

I am talking about opportunity cost.

Most businesses have core skills or specialisation areas, yet nevertheless, when it comes to a standard business model there are several aspects that have to be operated in tandem for the business to function, which are outside the specialisations of the business.

You often come across managers that have their staff multitasking all sorts of tasks inefficiently, under the mentality that this is great for the business because by doing so they are saving themselves money as they are not outsourcing tasks or activities.

To make a point - If you can attain let’s say $200 per hour out of a core activity of an employee and you are using 4 hours of these resources to juggle with marketing, that you could be outsourcing at $95 ph. and getting the job done in 3 hours, then you have actually forgone $515 by miss-allocating resources.

In-house Outsource

$200 X 4 hrs. = $800 $95 X 3 hrs. = $285

1 unit of marketing output 1 unit of marketing output

Opportunity forgone $515

Interestingly enough, you often bump into a cost focused mentality which perceives the strategy as a cost savings win of $285 on marketing for the week.

Because time is money and also a precious resource, before you postpone resorting to a specialist for let’s say 6 months, you should factor in that this decision could mean forgoing a $12,000 opportunity due to miss-allocation of resources.

Another situation worth highlighting is where internal staff with no immediate know-how pursue to accomplish infrequent or temporary, non-core business activities.

This could involve allocating significant hours to research time, where there might be an opportunity cost without ever even getting to accomplish the required task. In addition, if the activity is infrequent the knowledge is likely to be forgotten and vanish before the task is again required.

In my experience, the more senior the managers or directors, the better understanding they will have in terms of the opportunity costs associated with human capital and resources.

Bottom line productivity should sit at the core and opportunity cost can’t be neglected when it comes to resource allocation decisions.

When it comes to outsourcing you often hear the question: “What will be my return on investment?” Quite frankly, while you can’t generalise, in some instances a decision can be undertaken based on opportunity costs.

One of the questions you will need to know is what your opportunity costs is: How much is your time really worth? From there ROI will be easier to asses.

We can help you determine that.

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Strategic View Point by Carlos Mauleon Senior Manager of Strategic Business Initiatives at BIZNEX Consulting www.biznexconsulting.com.au

Let Apollo run free and grow your business.

Get FREE creativity running for your business and experience Apollo. Apollo our Financial Services Innovation Team will inspect your business and value proposition from several angles attempting to identify value add opportunities.

Our Apollo experience offers a

FREE Business Consultation,

FREE Business Review

FREE Business Enhancement Proposal Brief.

100 % commitment free for you to assess whether you would like us to execute any of the identified value add initiatives.

BIZNEX Consulting identifies opportunities for business growth and facilitates the development of fresh ideas and innovation through strategic planning and execution.

We merge direct practical financial industry experience with consulting know how, technological resources and research capabilities.

Services - Tailored Research - Market Trend Analysis - Competitor Analysis - Financial Budgeting - Business Strategy & Planning - Customer Growth Strategies - Operational Improvement - Project Management - Marketing Strategies - Sales Coaching - Web development

Industries - Wealth Management - Insurance & Financial Planning - Superannuation - Funds Management - Private Equity & Venture Capital - Accounting - Sales & Distribution Channels

BIZNEX Consulting - Strategic Roadmaps - www.biznexconsulting.com.au

Your BIZNEX Partner

This infographic is a summary by BIZNEX Consulting and is to be used for informational purposes only. While due care has been taken to present this information, BIZNEX Consulting takes no responsibility for any potential errors.

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Strategic View Point by Carlos Mauleon Senior Manager of Strategic Business Initiatives at BIZNEX Consulting www.biznexconsulting.com.au

Let Apollo run free and grow your business.

Getexperience Apollo.

Apollo our overall Financial Services Business Review will inspect your business and value proposition from several angles attempting to identify value add opportunities.

Our Apollo experience offers

FREE Business Consultation

FREE Business Review

FREE Business Enhancement Proposal Brief.

100 % commitment free for you to assess whether you would like us to execute any of the identified value add initiatives.

merge direct practical financial industry experience with consulting know how and research capabilities.

Services - Tailored Research - Market Trend Analysis - Competitor Analysis - Financial Budgeting - Business Strategy & Planning - Customer Growth Strategies - Operational Improvement - Project Management - Marketing Strategies - Sales Coaching.

Industries - Wealth Management - Insurance & Financial Planning - Superannuation - Funds Management - Private Equity & Venture Capital - Accounting - Sales & Distribution Channel

Is your portfolio really diversified?

Are you putting your eggs in different baskets but in the same truck?

Do you know where your portfolio stands in the risk return scale?

Diversification misconceptions

There is a common analogy that is frequently quoted to explain investment diversification "don't put all your eggs in one basket"which implies putting eggs in different baskets to spread out the risk yet beware as it doesn't tell you the full story.

Diversification is normally quoted as an investment risk mitigation strategy but it's not just a matter of putting eggs in different baskets, it is a matter of finding baskets which are negatively correlated to each other.