Financial Planning Mackay

Financial Planning Mackay is an established practice founded by Mark McConnell, who began his career in financial planning in 2000 after leaving the banking sector. After growing and selling his first practice, and subsequently leaving the industry in 2017, he re-established Financial Planning Mackay. The firm currently consists of two advisers and two support staff.

Before adopting AI, the primary pain point was the significant administrative burden associated with documentation and compliance. While the client-facing aspect of the work was straightforward, the back-office requirements were a major challenge. A new client file would typically require around 30 hours of work, with less than six of those hours spent in direct contact with the client. This meant approximately 80% of the work, or 24 hours per client, was consumed by compliance and regulatory requirements.

This administrative load acted as a "handbrake on the business," creating a bottleneck on the advisers. The delay in completing documentation meant that support staff were often waiting for files, which hindered the overall efficiency and workflow of the practice.

Paradino has been "a game-changer for the firm." The most significant impact has been on the file noting process, which is now "significantly shorter."

This has fundamentally changed how advisers conduct client meetings. Instead of writing extensive notes, they now focus on capturing two or three key points and engage more deeply with the client, knowing the details are being recorded. As Mark puts it, "I'm paying different attention now. I let Paradino record and I pay attention to my client's emotional responses."

This efficiency has "taken a bucket off my desk after a meeting." The bottleneck that was previously on the adviser's desk has now been cleared, allowing files to move to the administration team much faster.

Furthermore, they use the Strategy Assist feature to refine and formalise advice strategies. This has eliminated the need to create a strategy paper from scratch. Mark states, "I don't need to do a strategy document anymore. Athena just does the strategy document for me." He estimates this has at least halved the time previously spent on this task, calling the overall impact "again, a game-changer."