People often tell Anne-Marie Seagrim that they can’t believe she’s been doing this for so long.
If that sounds uncharitable, consider the following: over the nearly 40 years she’s spent in financial advice, Anne-Marie has guided clients through multiple market collapses, endured every major advice reform since the industry’s inception – including going back to tertiary studies to meet her FASEA obligations – and successfully appealed a three-year ASIC ban.
She says: “Sometimes I look at my husband and I go, ‘It’s a miracle we’re still here.’”
Anne-Marie established the Seagrims head office in regional South Australia with her husband, Peter, in 1987. She had recently left her role at a credit union, disillusioned with term deposits “that really weren’t doing anything to help the client.”
Their goal was to run an advice business where they could connect with clients on a personal level and alleviate the stress associated with preparing for retirement. Despite a somewhat inauspicious start – they were up and running right in time for Black Monday – Seagrims now services around 400 clients throughout South Australia, focusing primarily on retirement and estate planning.
It wasn’t a straight shot to success, though. During the GFC, Anne-Marie says Seagrims sought to protect client funds by recommending investments in white-labelled products managed by Trio Capital (née Astarra Capital). Over $100 million was rolled into Trio sub-funds before the firm’s highly-publicised collapse in 2009.
Described as “the largest superannuation fraud in Australian history” by Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill (who chaired the parliamentary inquiry into the matter), Trio was the subject of numerous official reviews, intense press coverage, a range of indictments and disciplinary actions by both ASIC and APRA.
During its investigation, ASIC placed three-year banning orders on both Peter and Anne-Marie and suspended Seagrims’ AFSL. This was, obviously, a tremendous blow to both advisers – professionally and personally.
“This is back in 2007, 2008,” she says. “It was the GFC. We were just trying to protect our clients and, at the end of the day, they got all their money back. They didn't lose any money but it really nearly killed us.”
Despite these difficulties, Anne-Marie and her husband were determined to return to advice. They appealed ASIC’s decision, representing themselves at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and secured a reduction of the banning orders to six months each.
In his 45-page decision, then-AAT deputy president Dean Jarvis wrote that "prior to the imposition of the banning orders, [Anne-Marie and Peter] were extremely concerned to do their best to protect their clients' investments, and went to considerable lengths, at significant personal cost, to assist them as far as possible."
With the bans reversed and statutory compensation finalised after some five years, Anne-Marie devoted her energy to rebuilding Seagrims. This proved to be no small feat – particularly considering the personal nature of their rural business and ongoing attention from local media.
Nonetheless, Anne-Marie was determined to refocus Seagrims on its original mission: prioritising real connections with clients and a sustainable, cost-efficient advice process. Her team is central to this strategy, helping maintain client relationships and ensuring there’s no slack in the operation.
Technology plays a critical role, too; Anne-Marie uses Xplan across the whole business, noting that “there are few other platforms that offer every tool an adviser requires under one roof.” She believes that effective use of technology is essential for “creating more time to deal with clients directly.”
On the portfolio side, Seagrims now focuses primarily on passive strategies; Anne-Marie says this approach allows clients to enjoy their retirement without the volatility concerns associated with higher-risk investments. She adds that these funds have elevated levels of transparency and in-built protections against fraudulent activity.
All of these adjustments have had demonstrable results for Seagrims, as evidenced by (among other things) Anne-Marie becoming one of the top-10 performers on the Advisely Index.
Ultimately, her goal is to keep things simple. She’s not particularly enamoured of the credentialism and abstruse language so common in many corners of Australian financial services, arguing that “clients don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
It’s this sentiment she’d most like to pass on to younger advisers in the industry – no matter what new skills are required from a technical perspective, it is paramount that clients are dealt with personably.
“As an older advisor and as a long-term advisor of 37 years,” she says, “it really makes you work out what's important – and what's important is the relationship.”
The first step in accelerating your efficiency journey, as Anne-Marie did, is to understand where you sit today. In just 5 minutes, you can take the Advisely Index here.
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