SIAA focuses mission on building prosperity for investors

Outlining its mission for the next three years, the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association (SIAA) will prioritise building prosperity for investors, underscored by strong advocacy work, fostering connections and raising awareness about a dynamic and inclusive profession.

At the annual conference in Melbourne on day one, SIAA chief executive Maria Lykouras unveiled the association's new vision: "building prosperity for Australian investors" - a shift from "serving the interests of investors."

"I believe this change makes our industry's role in the lives of our clients clearer and more ambitious," said Lykouras, who was appointed to the top job last December.

"Our purpose is to champion and advocate for a dynamic, inclusive and future-focused industry, empowering smart decisions by Australian investors. We've been very specific about every word that you see in that purpose.

"We wanted to be clear to our members in the market what our role is, and we want to call out how we are focusing on the changing dynamics, such as technology and client behaviours for the future."

The association is driving home several strategic imperatives: advocacy, lifting industry capability through knowledge and education, effective member collaboration and engagement, professionalism, and raising awareness to promote the value of the industry to the broader community.

"We are an incredible profession to be a part of, so we want to attract, retain and advance a diverse profession that is representative of our community and awareness. We will continue to promote the value of this industry to the broader community to support these strategic imperatives," she said.

"We're going to deepen even further our relationships with government and regulators."

In the last 12 months, SIAA has launched 13 public policy submissions and attended 127 government meetings.

Among other initiatives, SIAA helped secure recognition for reform to adviser education standards to rebuild the pipeline of professionals, prevented increases to wholesale investor thresholds and engaged closely with ASX on its CHESS replacement project.

"We're going to be proactive in our positions to lead government, regulatory, and market change where it's needed. Our board had a very significant discussion yesterday about how we're going to start leaning into this industry further to see how we can drive change more broadly," Lykouras said.

Financial Standard is the official media partner of the 2026 SIAA Conference.