Whether it was common banter at industry conferences or over a coffee or by a strange man wearing a sandwich board preaching while swatting away UFOs, no-one can deny that 2011 and beyond will bring with it much change.
In the past 12 months alone Australia's financial services industry has experienced enough change and challenges for a lifetime.
The year began with yet another thud, this time in the form of the morphing fund manager Astarra Asset Management or is it Trio Capital?
The collective nightmare that was Astarra/Trio took a firm grip of the industry, with a game of six degrees of separation occurring for much of the year, with Shawn Richard the common link.
Another entity to take centre stage in 2010 was the Rudd government, for a number of reasons.
With the release of its recommendations in relation to the Ripoll report in the form of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reform, the Labor government became enemy number one, prompting the once shallow divide between privately owned, smaller advice groups and institutional firms to suddenly widen.
The release of FOFA, the Henry tax review and titbits such as MySuper and SuperStream from the Cooper review have kept the industry on its toes this year and given everyone a voice.
Earlier this month, I was at a Christmas function when the hosting managing director bailed me up over why the media continues to publish 'noise' on the government's proposed reforms.
The managing director said he couldn't understand why it was necessary for the media to keep pumping out stories that merely speculate on the changes when, as he put it, "the fat lady hasn't yet sung".
He has a point. Another constant for the year has been a sense of frustration.
With the transition to a new minister for superannuation and financial services seemingly to be never ending, many feel hamstrung by the lack of information and progress Bill Shorten has made with the government's proposed reform.
For some, such change brings with it further uncertainty not merely at a client level but a personal career level.
For others, the reforms go hand in glove with the industry's evolution and are a necessity, and therefore come as little surprise.
In this week's edition of IFA, our last for the year, we've dedicated the cover story to what we believe were the big moments of 2010.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank all IFA readers for their loyalty, feedback and general cheer throughout the year.
On behalf of the IFA team, I'd like to also wish you a happy holidays and safe and restful new year.
