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PODCAST

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice

Nathan Fradley and Jordan Vaka

Welcome to the Challenge the Standard podcast - a podcast for financial advisers, by financial advisers. Your hosts, Nathan Fradley and Jordan Vaka, will examine the biases, fixed thinking and status quo in advice. In every episode, we"ll dive deep into the world of financial advice, questioning the norms, sparking new ideas and exploring how we could do things better. Our goal is to elevate our professional practices and "uphold and promote the standards of our profession. So, whether you"re a

business management

All Episodes

01:05:16

S9E2 AI v VA

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/10/01

Putting aside their avowed determination to stop talking about AI, this week Jordan and Nathan explore the growing role AI is playing in adviser businesses. The rapid escalation of AI's position in advice reminds them both of the way hiring Virtual Assistants (VAs) took off in the mid 2010s. They're particularly interested in the overlap between the different options advisers face to grow their business. But before we can even discuss that - it's key to define just what problems you're trying to

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01:05:48

S9E1 PI Insurance with Richard Silberman

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/09/24

"Sorry, our PI insurer says you can't do that - we're not covered." "Our PI says we need to have this 27-step process in place before you can recommend an industry super fund." "That's what's so good about wholesale advice - PI doesn't care, it's not covered!" Nathan and Jordan have long suspected the PI insurers have been used as a convenient boogeyman for lazy, or perhaps dodgy, licensees to threaten advisers with. The kind of ogre that only the licensee can speak with, because advisers couldn't

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01:11:21

S8E20 Out On Your Own

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/09/17

This week, regular listeners may ask themselves, much like the hosts, 'haven't they done this episode before?'. Turns out that, no, not really - but it does cover a lot of the same territory these chatty terriers have covered before: The importance of branding and niching How vital it is to have support, processs, and spend time on marketing Intentionality in your business The pros and (many, many) cons of working with friends and family Why activity is important As is being on top of your costs

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59:43

S8E19 Screening

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/09/10

You've done it - you're at a point where you have enough enquiries coming in each week to fill your books. Plenty of meetings, plenty of engagements, plenty of clients. But, sorry, what's that? Now you don't have plenty of time? Now there isn't enough hours in the week to do all the work you've promised all these wonderful clients? What's the solution? Well, this week, we discuss one possible solution - filtering and screening the enquiries that cross your desk. We cover: When should you start

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01:13:39

S8E18 Pharewelling Phil with Angry Anderson

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/09/03

Phil Anderson, General Manager Policy, Advocacy & Standards, has announced his retirement. So, naturally, we thought we'd drag him onto the podcast again to run through: The FAAA's response to Dr Mulino's policy release the other day The greatest hits of his many years at the helm of the profession's response to policy and regulatory changes The importance of all members getting involved in responding to those matters that concern us How the next generation of advocates can plan to apply for Phil's

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01:13:36

S8E17 Post-PY Life with Hannah Elliott

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/08/27

Fair to say the Professional Year experience has involved a lot of pioneering spirit from all involved. And it's now been around long enough that we're seeing people roll out from the 18m-long-year into being fully fledged financial advisers. And Jordan and Nathan were curious about how that looks for the now-advisers brave enough to weather the experimental process. Which is why this conversation with Hannah Elliott was so much fun. We were able to cover: The challenges that come with learning

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01:17:21

S8E16 Reform, At Last!

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/08/20

Like most of our listeners, we at Challenge the Standard believe that the regulatory landscape for financial advisers has been too stable, for too long. Just the same rules, nothing changing, for years and years and years. Which is why we were so overjoyed at the prospect of there finally being some reform in the works, some evolution in the rules around financial advice for us and our clients. No more complacency for us financial advisers, comfortable practicing in the same rules and methods

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01:09:04

S8E15 Hiring

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/08/13

This week's episode is centred on important question - when should you hire staff? Inspired by a post from Matthew Jarvis on LinkedIn, Nathan and Jordan are asking just when is the right time to bring on new people? And then, when the time IS right - just what do you have them actually do? Do you compensate for weaknesses? Push for efficiencies? Emphasise your strengths? And where do you get them from? Salary? Outsourced? Contract? Casual? Egads - family? These questions and more are asked - if not

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58:21

S8E14 Walking the Talk with Kate Mitterer

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/08/06

How well do you remember your higher education? Beyond that - how much did you give back during your uni days? Then, coming out of those halcyon / dreaded days, how did you find those first steps into the real world? Were you wobbly, stumbling around like Bambi, trying to make your way in the mean streets of financial advice? Or were you, like our guest this week, more of a take charge, grab the bull by the horns type? Kate Mitterer, long-suffering employee of one of your hosts, joins us this week

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01:12:39

S8E13 The Industry vs Retail Fund Dilemma

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/07/30

It's the debate that doesn't go away, the frustration that infuriates, the conflict that challenges - the age-old argument adviser have every day, about which super fund their client should be using. Our views are often infected by ideology, but then as we discuss in this week's episode, the counter can be true as well - the desire to avoid what we see as an ideological position can drive us into hard-to-defend positions. We also discuss the role your employer's 'houseview' can have in either

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01:21:01

S8E12 Everyone's Wrong About AI (Except Us)

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/07/23

Leaving aside the deeply tongue-in-cheek title, this episode was a challenge to record. After all, both Jordan and Nathan use AI every day - they're very conscious of how much efficiency, effectiveness and, um, enthusiasm it brings to their practices. But, at the same time, they also have some reservations and notes about it all. So this episode is all about examining those reservations, exploring their concerns, declaring their blatant hypocrisies and putting the realities of using AI under a

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01:09:18

S8E11 Vulnerable Clients

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/07/16

How do you recognise, assess and accommodate the vulnerabilities your clients bring into your meetings? In this week's episode, Nathan and Jordan explore the many different vulnerabilties clients carry in our work together. Bouncing from their work in the divorce, bereavement and aged care spaces, they discuss: How vulnerability is not, and shouldn't be seen as, an impairment or disability The different ways vulnerability can manifest in our meetings How people can mask their mental disengagement

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01:11:51

S8E10 SMSFs in 2026

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/07/09

Do you wind up more SMSFs that you open? So does everyone else apparently, so who is opening SMSFs then? In this episode Jordan and Nathan open SMSF discussions with little regard for recourse, discussing The CSLR Treasury paper and it's comment on SMSF inclusion The recent changes to residential LRBAs Accountant exemptions Working with vulnerable clients who have SMSF Served piping hot like a pot of herbal tea, this ep is also full of sidebars and distraction. You can now get CPD points for

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01:09:25

S8E9 ASIC REP 833

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/07/02

Hot new ASIC report dropped this week and just like the classic, finger-on-the-pulse tastemakers they are, Nathan and Jordan are here to unpack it. Donning their best Meldrum-style hats, Nathan and Jordan dive into REP 833, which examines ASIC's concerns with the way platform trustees just don't seem ready to get their act together. There's a fair bit of ground covered: What ASIC's concerns seem to be Why they're actually pretty justified in being annoyed at how little has changed since that

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01:10:28

S8E8 - Q&A #3 (Careers and Ethical Dilemmas)

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/06/25

Take a short flight, with a hot cup of tea (but bring your own teabag) for this episode, where Jordan and Nathan answer some listener questions. They discuss How they got a break into the profession Their advice for new entrants on how to break into the profession Remuneration for junior advisers, and whether profit share is common Whether a power of attorney can/should appoint a beneficiary nomination in super The lawyers tell us they have broken a show record in how far they get into the episode

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01:03:11

S8E7 Your Capacity

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/06/18

How much work can you reasonably get done? How many SOAs per week, per quarter, per 40 week year is youre realistic capacity? Or is that approach old fashioned, and missing so much of the nuance in your capacity to meet your goals, in the short term but in the long term? Given it's the end of financial year, Jordan and Nathan reflect on The difference between motivation and consistency The factors that influence your capacity How time, output, culture, systems and processes influence capacity How

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01:07:04

S8E6 IPOhhhhhhs...

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/06/11

Well, isn't this all very exciting?! Some big new listings hitting the market and it's such fun watching everybody lose. their. goddamned. minds. Rules no longer need apply which, in the world of index investing, is kind of a big deal. So, this week, Nathan and Jordan try (honestly, we really tried) to focus on the client-facing-reality of all the noise your clients are hearing about these big floats. How relevant are they? How worst case could the worst case scenario be? And, crucially, what can

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01:03:48

S8E5 Aged Care II: Retention Boogaloo

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/06/04

We've talked about Aged Care before, but things have changed. Lots of things! There are new rules about how fees are calculated, applied and, most importantly for any government agency, renamed. (Who knew 'hotelling' was a word...look it up though) Nathan's been doing some even more interesting work in this valuable, important space - and written many a CPD piece on it. And even Jordan's getting involved in it now, gingerly stepping on the learning curve and realising it's not quite as steep as he

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01:13:57

S8E4 Fine, We'll Do One On The Budget

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/05/28

Apparently the Federal Government dropped some sort of Budget thingamajig the other day. It's got many people in a lather with the injustice of it all. Dragged into the discussion with their characteristic reluctance to share an uninformed opinion, Nathan and Jordan thought an episode on this epoch-ending disaster* (going by the reaction of some of the panic merchants out there) would be a good idea. Or at least a chance to further expose their vicious leftie sensibilities for their patient,

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45:53

S8E3 Paraplanning

Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice ·

2026/05/21

Say it with us...paraplanning. Paraplanning. Paraplanning. Para - planning. What is it, why is it important, who's doing it and how are they doing it? This week's episode - likely the first of a series we'll return to - is all about the noble art of paraplanning. Because Jordan and Nathan know that hitting the kind of collaborative alignment that can occur between a financial adviser and paraplanner is one of the joys of the profession. But they also know that finding that synchronicity takes work

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