In the latest episode of the NewIn Podcast, Cathi and co-host Hannah sit down with two guests who are doing exactly that - on opposite sides of the world. And the picture they paint together raises a compelling question: what kind of adviser does the advice gap actually need?
Jo Wall, Founder of Joyful Wealth, spent 13 years in financial services before concluding that the traditional IFA model simply wasn't built for the people she most wanted to help. Younger clients, early in their financial journey and without significant assets, were falling through the cracks - not because they didn't need advice, but because the system wasn't designed for them.
Her answer was to build something different. By combining regulated financial advice with financial coaching, Jo created a model that separates planning from product - making it affordable, flexible, and genuinely impactful for clients at every stage of their financial life. The kind of adviser the advice gap needs, she argues, isn't necessarily one who manages more money. It's one who is willing to meet clients where they are, charge fairly for real value, and understand that education, accountability and behavioural support are just as important as the regulated stuff.
The scale of the problem becomes even clearer when you look at Australia. Alisdair Barr from Striver reveals that of the 11.9 million Australians who want financial advice and are willing to pay for it, only 1.9 million can currently access it. Stricter education requirements and the withdrawal of the big banks from advice have seen adviser numbers fall from 26,000 to just 15,000 in five years.
But Striver is on a mission to change that - connecting graduates with advice firms, building smarter matching technology, and aiming to bring 5,000 new advisers into the profession over the next decade. Because the advice gap doesn't just need a different kind of adviser. It needs more of them.
As Alisdair puts it simply: every professional should aim to replace themselves plus one.
The advice gap is real, but so is the appetite, and the talent, to fix it. Listen to the full episode now, and don't miss our series 1 finale - coming soon!
Full epsiode available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
The NewIn podcast is brought to you with thanks to Royal London, Lead Sponsor of the Verve Foundation.
