QInvest provides personal
financial advice to members of QSuper.
I worked for QInvest for
nearly 7 years from October 2010. It was a most rewarding period of my career
and bluntly, the ideals by which QInvest executed its responsibilities makes finding
another employer with similar commitment difficult.
QInvest financial advice
recommendations were based on each individual clients personal goals and
objectives and evidence was collected, expected and retained supporting the
exploration of such goals.
First and foremost, a
strategy was devised, discussed, explained and agreed followed by the selection
of products needed to execute the strategy.
There was no financial
incentive whatsoever to select one product over another. There was no incentive
to complicate a strategy. The size of funds being advised was not relevant to
any individual or collective performance assessment. The number of clients
helped was a key performance indicator together with the quality of the advice
provided. More was not better; better was more.
I always considered there
to be a purity about the way QInvest or we executed the craft. This feeling of
ourity was reinforced when following the hearings and subsequent recommendations
of The
Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial
Services I
On Thursday 2 July it was
announced that QInvest would soon cease to provide comprehensive personal
financial advice. My understanding is this is not a Covid-19 or pandemic driven
decision.
I have long held the
belief that any organisation is entitled to change direction, re-structure or
cease all or parts of its operations. I have accepted that changes result in different
“people needs” and some may leave, be surplus to requirements or re-deployed.
Change is necessary.
Notwithstanding, it is
difficult to believe QInvest Clients, QSuper members or the financial service
sector is better for not having an organisation such as QInvest provide the
comprehensive services it has since 1974.
QInvest has a right to
feel great pride for what has been achieved over 26 years and more so, for the
way business has been conducted. I am personally proud to be a QInvest alumni.
QInvest implemented an
Advice model and fee structure that allowed proper financial advice to be
provided to clients that needed it but for whom many other providers would not
be interested in delivering.
A 35 year old school
teaching couple about to have their second child is an example I often used to
outline the unique offering of QInvest. Typically, this couple would have low
disposable income, low investable assets and usually quite high debt by way of
their principal place of residence.
They would also benefit
greatly from financial advice covering some or all of risk insurance, education
saving, debt management, estate planning and cash flow planning. The QInvest
model allowed such advice to be provided when many, maybe most alternative
financial planning models would not be able to provide a service for more than
perhaps risk insurance.
In addition, I was always
proud that the part time cleaner at the rural primary school would receive
exactly the same service, attention to detail and professional thought and
scrutiny of quality as would a Departmental Director, Police Commissioner or
Minister of the Crown.
I have worked for several
banks, funds and institutions. I know of many more. All claim to have their
customer, client or member as their sole and primary priority. From my observation
and experience, only QInvest (and QSuper) state such a mantra then assertively
prosecute it – from the bottom up, and back down again.
Most of all I am proud to
have been associated with many wonderful QInvest people.
I have spoken to several
QInvest Financial Advisers and one Para Planners who were present for the
announcement on Thursday 2 June. All were disappointed and all were accepting
if also frustrated.
Advisers in particular
were concerned for the very many clients they worked with year in year out, particularly
those they had helped through the loss of parents, partners and in some cases
children.
They were concerned for
the ongoing diverse financial needs for clients who were disabled or simply
very naive financially. They were concerned for clients who they had worked
with to bring them back from the brink of bankruptcy to again moving forward in
their financial life having ceased systemic credit card mis-use and gambling
habits. Would these people continue to prosper?
There is a difference
between a member of QSuper and a client of QInvest. A large difference of
incalculable value.
QInvest people, know them as people. They know
their faults, hopes and dreams. They know their fears concerns and weaknesses.
They know their health challenges.
I will always remember
observing an Advice meeting where the client had untreatable terminal lung cancer
and a time frame of 3 to 6 months at best. The comfort and understanding they
expressed to the QInvest Financial Adviser following a very challenging meeting
was as moving as it was sad. They not only knew their family would be taken
care of financially, they understood how and trusted the ongoing assistance
their partner would receive from that QInvest Adviser after they past away.
This is not an isolated
situation. On many occasions QInvest Advisers attended meetings with clients
and their families at home and in hospital knowing there were weeks, sometimes
less to go.
Other Financial Advisers
do similar but it was the culture of QInvest people to do this. QInvest
Advisers on the whole accepted this was their duty and privilege to help. There
was no tangible incentive to do so.
And then the impact on
clients became just a little more personal for me.
Not long after the news of
QInvest’s withdrawal from Comprehensive Advice services became public knowledge,
my messenger on Facebook pinged.
The sender was someone I
first met when we were both 14 years of age. It is many years, decades even
since we have had any meaningful contact.. She told me she is a QInvest client
and asked if I knew (name of Adviser). I did not know she was a client
of QInvest or of said Adviser until she told me via messenger.
She had retired quite
recently having done so after working towards that goal with the help of said
Adviser. I was asked if she would still be able to see the Adviser
revealing a review meeting had recently been arranged. Not wanting to say
anything that could be misleading and given I no longer work at QInvest I
suggested she call or e-mail and mention if comfortable she had spoken to me.
She called several times
only to have the phone go to message bank and emailed. Distressed she came back
to me and not making any promises, I offered to help.
I messaged the Adviser,
explained what had happened, the distress of the client while acknowledging
comforting her may not be their first priority right now.
Shortly after, the Adviser
called her.
A measure of the QInvest
culture and a measure of a culture that I am not sure QSuper as its owner understands
is for all said Advisers concern for their own families well being and
their own career, they promptly called the client and prioritised addressing their
needs and fears.
It is not surprising that
an Adviser would be professional and make contact. Equally, it would not be
surprising if they had left the call for a day or until after the weekend. But
no, they called within an hour of hearing of her distress and concern.
To be continued
Part two will be out on
Thursday 16 July 2020
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