This degree of longevity in itself is an achievement, but in Helmich’s case it’s even more remarkable seeing his introduction to the industry was almost by accident.
“It was purely luck in some ways. At the time I was a track and field athlete coming from school, New South Wales junior 1500 metres champion, and my whole plan was to go to teachers’ college so I could train and compete. So I thought what can I do in the meantime to earn a bit of money and I decided to work at AMP,” he says.
“Straightaway I liked the advisory world and met some very good people. I’ll never forget the teachers’ college scholarship came through and I was sitting on the fourth floor of AMP and I ripped it up and threw it into the bin. So I came to work here for a short time and that was 36 years ago.”
In the past 10 to 15 years, Helmich nominates two initiatives as his proudest achievements: implementing a true financial planning model at AMP and starting the Horizons adviser academy.
“Moving the AMP advisers from what was a very productive agency-based sales force to a financial planning model was significant,” he says.
“Also, the Horizons academy has created a really professional pathway for people to join the financial services profession.”
In regard to changes to the industry, he rates the current commitment of the industry to rid itself of commission-based remuneration as the most telling, simply because of the driving force behind it.
“The moves that are around today to move towards no commissions is the biggest change. Certainly the change brought about by FSR (financial services reform) was a big change, but I see that as a change that was almost happening to you,” he says.
“Whereas this move to a more explicit and transparent world basically to boost consumer confidence has come from within the planning world.”
While he is happy with the direction the industry is now taking, he says if he could change one thing it would be the speed at which the sector has evolved.
“I would have liked things to happen quicker. For example, I spoke to our advisers in 2005 and told them we’d be moving to a zero-zero world, meaning products would have zero upfront commissions and zero trail. Now I would have liked to have done that quicker than we have and we’re going before others anyway,” he says.
“I would also have liked to have seen education standards pushed up more quickly in the financial planning profession.”
In relation to other influential people in the industry, Helmich regards Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law Minister Chris Bowen as the most influential right now.
“Mainly because he’s got a whole range of reviews under way, which will reshape the industry into the future. But in saying that, I think Chris Bowen is going to come out of it with a world where consumer confidence will be higher, there’ll be higher levels of professionalism and the outcome will be that more people will seek financial planners.”
