Good advice is changing. That might sound obvious. Our profession has always evolved. Regulation changes. Technology changes. Client expectations change. Businesses adapt. But what strikes us about where we are right now is that these changes are not happening one at a time.
They are happening all around us, at the same time.
We are moving towards a more outcomes-focused regulatory environment. AI is changing how work gets done. Advice businesses are thinking differently about capacity, growth and the role of their teams. Clients and families are changing, and so are the relationships we need to build with them. At the same time, we have important questions to answer about the people, skills and career paths that will shape the future of our profession.
Put all of that together, and it leaves us with a bigger question: What does good advice need to look like next?
That question sits at the heart of PROpulsion Ascend 2026: The Next Standard of Advice.
Good is not a fixed standard
One of the things we’ve been thinking about is how easy it is to measure ourselves against what has worked before.
We know what a good advice process looks like. We know what a successful advice business looks like. We know the roles people traditionally play and the ways clients have traditionally engaged with us.
But when the environment around those things changes, our idea of “good” has to keep moving too.
That doesn’t mean everything we’ve built until now is suddenly wrong. Far from it.
It means staying curious enough to ask whether the way we work today will still serve our clients, our businesses and our profession tomorrow.
And I don’t think any of us has all the answers.
What we can do is ask better questions.
The questions are getting bigger
Take AI.
The conversation has moved beyond whether financial planners should use it. A more useful question now might be: what should technology allow our people to do better?
Or consider regulation and client outcomes. Compliance matters, of course. But increasingly, we also need to think about whether we can demonstrate the value and outcomes clients actually receive.
Growth creates another challenge. When a business reaches capacity, simply asking people to do more is not a sustainable growth strategy. We need to think about how our businesses, teams, technology and support structures work together to create capacity.
Then there is the client relationship itself.
Many advisers have spent years building deep trust with the person who holds the primary relationship. But what happens when wealth moves to a spouse, children or the next generation? Have we built trust with the family, or only with the client?
And behind all of this is the profession itself. Where will the next generation of financial planning professionals come from? What kind of careers are we building for them? What skills will they need? And are we creating a profession people want to join, grow in and ultimately lead?
These are different conversations, but we don’t believe they are separate conversations.
They are all part of the same story.
One connected conversation
That is what we want to explore at Ascend.
On 20 October 2026, we’re bringing financial planners, advisers, practice owners, business leaders and advice teams together for a live virtual event focused on the next standard of advice.
The programme is designed as one connected conversation, looking at the shifts happening across client outcomes, technology and human judgement, advice business design, client relationships, and the future skills and people our profession will need.
There will be five main keynotes and five shorter mini keynotes, with each conversation adding another perspective to the bigger picture.
But our hope is not that you leave Ascend with ten pages of notes and a list of things somebody has told you that you “should” do.
We would much rather you leave with better questions.
- Questions that make you look differently at your advice process.
- Questions that start a useful conversation with your team.
- Questions that challenge an assumption about your business.
- Questions that help you decide what you could start changing now.
- Because better questions lead to better decisions.
Keep raising the bar
We believe our profession gets stronger when we’re willing to remain curious about what better could look like.
There is a lot that financial planners and advice businesses are already doing exceptionally well. Ascend isn’t about dismissing that.
It’s about building on it.
It’s about looking honestly at what is changing around us, learning from one another, challenging some of our assumptions and thinking deliberately about what comes next.
PROpulsion Ascend 2026: The Next Standard of Advice takes place virtually on 20 October 2026, from 08:50 to 14:00.
If you care about where financial advice is heading, we hope you’ll join us for the conversation.
Event details
Event: PROpulsion Ascend 2026: The Next Standard of Advice
Date: 20 October 2026
Time: 08:50 – 14:00
Format: Live virtual event
Tickets: R395 per person, with group rates available for six or more attendees. PROpulsion members attend free as part of their membership.
