Luka Financial Group

Luka Financial Group is a regional financial planning practice based in the middle of New South Wales. The practice operates as the financial planning arm of a larger accounting practice with 22-23 staff, while the planning team consists of Nicholas McKenna, a Client Services Officer (CSO), and a paraplanner.

The practice has an established and broad client base with a significant focus on clients in the 50 to 70 age bracket. While they specialise in retirees and downsizers, they still provide a comprehensive and broad range of services. Being a regional firm means they cannot be as "boutique" as some city-based firms due to the available client numbers.

Before implementing new technology, the primary challenge was the significant time spent on administrative tasks, particularly manual file note creation. Nicholas would spend up to 45 minutes writing detailed notes after each meeting, which was a major drain on his time. This heavy administrative workload meant he was often working weekends and struggling to keep up the workload. The time constraint also limited their growth: they could only manage to onboard a new client once every couple of weeks without hiring additional staff.

Paradino has been a "game changer" for their practice; it has completely "transformed what we do and how we do it." The most significant impact has been the time it has given back to Nicholas and the team. The administrative burden has been lifted, and the workload is now "calm, collected... we can handle it. I no longer have to work weekends to keep up."

The efficiency gains have been immense. Nicholas' paraplanner has probably gotten back "15 hours easily a week." The strategy assist feature is "phenomenal" and has replaced their old process of building strategies in Excel spreadsheets. Nicholas also uses the client engagement emails, which send a meeting recap to clients. His CSO's reaction was, "this is the best thing ever... it's so cool." It provides a professional touch and helps clients feel information from their meetings.

The platform has become an integral part of Nicholas' daily workflow. The recent updates to the Workspace with knowledge bases were "probably the missing piece" that has really elevated the platform significantly.