Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F Kennedy.

I’m a great believer in the need to innovate and keep moving forward.That’s often interpreted as harnessing the power of technology, and putting it at the heart of a business to deliver the products and services clients need in a more efficient way.

However, there’s another area where, as a profession, we need to show greater innovation than ever before.

Although things are changing slowly, we are still a sector dominated by ‘men of a certain age’ (anecdotally in their 50s) looking for clients of a similar age (because they are the ones who have accumulated wealth).

That’s three decades of people, both as clients and advisers, we are, partly at least, ignoring.

We can’t carry on like this. Those businesses who change, adapt and innovate will be the ones who thrive. The others? They might survive for a while, but my prediction is that they will slowly die off.

I believe we need to show real innovation in two key areas:

1. Making financial advice more accessible

51% of the UK population is female, so why we continue to marginalise women is a mystery to me.

The recent ‘Winning over Women’ report highlighted a disconnection between female consumers and male advisers. The report concluded that:

• Financial institutions have continuously overlooked the needs of female consumers at every stage of the customer journey; from advertising to the advice relationship
• On average, men’s retirement savings are three times greater than those of women
• Only 38% of women feel ‘in control of their financial future’ compared to 51% of men
• The value of investment portfolios held by women is 40% lower than those of their male peers. Furthermore, perhaps because of a lack of engagement, a significantly larger proportion is held in Cash

By 2020 almost half of all investable assets will be held by women. The benefits, from an ethical, social and commercial perspective, for advice firms who truly engage with the female audience are clear.

The need to make financial advice more accessible doesn’t stop there though.

We must find ways of engaging with younger clients, who haven’t yet built up large levels of investable assets. People in their 20s and 30s are our clients of tomorrow and are especially important for younger advisers who will outlive, often by some distance, their older clients.

That means harnessing technology, changing the way we charge and producing a slimmed down proposition, perfect for those people who, for now at least, have simpler needs. It also means changing how we communicate; what works with a 60 or 70-year-old, might not resonate with their grandchildren.

2. Attracting younger, as well as more female, advisers

If female consumers are overlooked by the financial services industry, it’s little wonder that a large proportion of advisers are male.

It’s slowly changing, but walk into any large room of advisers and it would be highly unusual to find a female majority.

If advising and planning businesses are to survive, we need to bring through the next generation who can take the reins in the future.

We must also find a way of making what we do more attractive to school leavers and university graduates. Wouldn’t it be great if young people grew up wanting to be a financial planner?

For that to happen, we need to demonstrate we are truly a profession. That starts by moving the recruitment emphasis away from, how many clients can you bring. Do accountants and solicitors ask young recruits how many clients they can bring? No, I highly doubt they do.

That’s why I’m so pleased that groups such as NextGen planners exist.

We are doing our bit too and we are on the lookout for ambitious advisers, who we can help to grow their business.

The old model of simply aggregating assets to sell on at some point in the future is slowly dying. The firms who will thrive are those who embrace change and innovate.