14 April 2026
Financial Services Council Research Report Launch Event & Panel: The Role & Value of Digital Advice
Ignition’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Baker joined the Financial Services Council panel for the launch of its new research report, The Role and Value of Digital Advice in Australia. It was a timely conversation with industry leaders on the state and trajectory of digital advice.
From the coalface of institutional digital advice deployment, the evidence is straightforward: fund members who previously waited 7 weeks for an intra-fund advice appointment are now receiving a recommendation and SoA online in 12 minutes. Build it right, and they will come.
The bigger shift is in assumptions, beginning to challenge the accepted wisdom that members won’t make complex financial decisions without a human adviser in the loop. Where a trusted relationship with a fund or financial adviser does not exist, the availability of free AI models is already indicating this no longer holds.
Rather than a threat, this should be seen as a significant opportunity for institutions whose customers trust them, especially super funds. Regulated digital advice is more trustworthy than a generic AI engine, strengthens the fund’s brand proposition, and hybrid models allow established institutions to confidently and efficiently scale to the needs of their full customer base. The threat is inaction: if local regulated financial institutions don’t step up, unregulated offshore AI platforms will fill the gap.
By 2027, we expect that many large Australian financial institutions will have commenced their digital advice rollout. In just a few years, intra-fund advice will increasingly be delivered digitally, and hybrid models will become commonplace for retirement advice. The DBFO reforms will help when they arrive, but given competitive pressure, including from AI, many institutions are no longer waiting
Access the Research Report here
Thankyou to the Financial Services Council, Borromean Consulting and CoreData Group for an informative report, and to Mills Oakley for hosting the event.
The panel featured:
Andrew Baker, Ignition Advice
Duncan McPherson, Borromean Consulting
Jo Brennan, Aware Super
Ross Barnwell, Otivo
Matt Fogarty, Infocus
Zein El Hassan, Mills Oakley (panel moderator)
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For Ignition Advice media enquiries:
Natalie Kleibert, Head of Marketing. Email: natalie.kleibert@ignitionadvice.com