Unless you have been living under a rock, which might actually have been a better option for some, the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has certainly left its mark on the industry.

The real shame, however, is that the tens of thousands of genuinely good people who work in the industry are now painted with the same brush as those who put their own or their firm’s interests before their clients’.

Unless there are serious changes in how the industry operates, the issues that have been exposed so far are likely to just pop up again elsewhere in the industry, profits are likely to remain high and before long, it will be business as usual.

We are therefore likely to face continued public mistrust and scepticism about how much value the industry actually provides to Australians, particularly in an environment of low economic growth. I for one am not sure if this is the future we want for the industry.

For a start, we must seriously question the value we deliver for the fees that we charge. The image of an industry that prospers, whether the client sinks or swims, unsurprisingly attracts a lot of resentment and has to change. And changing it is up to us.

We must do better if we are to justify our fees and we must tie them more obviously to the value that we create for our clients. Whether it is being able to pay off the mortgage sooner, being able to enjoy more of life’s luxuries or being able to retire comfortably, it is up to us to articulate value in ways that clients can relate to and understand clearly enough that they can then articulate it to others.

Just as important is reclaiming trust because we are, after all, in the business of trust and every action we take or word we say is a deposit or withdrawal from the trust bank. This means taking a clear stand against practices and products that put clients at a disadvantage, acting with transparency and putting their interests above our own, our firm and just about everything else.  After all, we know that transparency builds trust.

We must show our clients why they should trust us by telling them very clearly that we know what’s going on, that we care very much about what it means for them and what value we can deliver to them.

The industry stands at an inflection point, facing a moment of truth where fortunes hang in the balance and things can of course, go either way: a new era of prosperity, or the beginning of the end as we know it. What happens next depends on our collective vision, wisdom, and willingness to take action to redefine value and reclaim trust.

As an industry, we must earn the right to drive the regulatory agenda. If we fail to do so, then we must expect that regulation will be invasive and unduly onerous.

And if now is not the time to make serious changes, I don’t know when is.

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