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<\/p>\n Welcome back! I hope you are feeling energised and ready for what 2025 has to offer. As I write \u201c\u201d2025\u201d in the early few weeks of this new year, I can\u2019t help but think back to the buzz and preparation surrounding the millennium bug of 2000. It\u2019s incredible to realise we are now 25 years beyond that moment in time. While we don\u2019t need to look quite that far back, I do hope that 2024 was a successful and rewarding year for you.<\/p>\n As part of our valuable community, I\u2019m excited to share my annual update with you, covering insights and reflections from 2024, and what you can see expect to see from TAG and the Australian economy in 2025.<\/p>\n Thank you for trusting us as part of your journey. For those already working with us and those we\u2019re yet to partner with, let\u2019s make 2025 a truly exceptional year together.<\/p>\n The Year That Was: 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year, TAG Financial Services marked its 27th<\/sup> year in business. While we are proud of our longevity, we are also aware of the challenges that come with being an established business. The word complacency comes to mind. In business, there\u2019s no entitlement – you must remain relevant and competitive. You can never let the hunger and enthusiasm die – when they do, so will the business.<\/p>\n We settled very nicely into our new office on Station Street, Malvern, and the feedback from clients has been amazing. Our team, benefiting from a hybrid work arrangement, has embraced their time in the office, creating a vibrant and collaborative environment. During the year, we attracted some skilled new team members and saw some more long-standing team members attain well deserved recognition. Our investments in technology and the expertise of our team has allowed us to deliver outstanding service to our valued clients and there is still plenty more enhancements to come.\u00a0Being able to attract and retain great people is always a challenge but this was particularly challenging for most businesses throughout 2024.<\/p>\n With our relocation came the opportunity to refresh our brand. Again, this has been extremely well received and emphasises our service ethos of knowledge, security, and growth both for our clients and our team.<\/p>\n From a financial perspective, like most businesses, navigating 2024\u2019s economic landscape presented its fair share of challenges. Politicians have certainly been coached around empathy, and we heard a lot about the \u2018cost-of-living\u2019 pressures which certainly existed. But for the business owner we didn\u2019t hear much about the \u2018cost-of-doing business\u2019 pressure. Without business we don\u2019t have jobs. Inflation was a big talking point and one of the biggest challenges is wage inflation which is particularly hard to curb. In Australia we had a dangerous combination of wage inflation without any corresponding increase in productivity. If not addressed, this has any economy living on borrowed time. For businesses this means we need to drive efficiencies particularly using technology to ensure productivity and that we remain competitive. It will also require businesses owners to be fiscally responsible, something that our governments have clearly not been.<\/p>\n The Year That Will Be: 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n We are excited about the year ahead. Thanks to our hard work in building strong infrastructure, both in terms of people and technology, we\u2019re well-positioned to maintain high service standards and pursue growth opportunities.<\/p>\n We will dedicate significant effort to promoting our brand, enhancing and leveraging our well-established position in the financial services industry. Notably, we\u2019ll be continuing to enhance our connections with accounting businesses, who regularly refer their clients to us regarding superannuation, complex tax advisory and financial planning matters.<\/p>\n In 2025, technology will remain central to our strategy, allowing us to achieve greater efficiencies.\u00a0Many of our competitors are addressing staff shortages and outdated processes by outsourcing overseas. I find this alarming; with all the data security breaches and identity theft. TAG believes in safeguarding client data locally and we are proud to be one of the largest administrators of self-managed super funds that do not<\/em> outsource work offshore.<\/p>\n On a business and economic front, we must remain vigilant. Yes, interest rate relief is coming, and I maintain my prediction this will occur in the March quarter of 2025.\u00a0However, it\u2019s important to point out, in comparison to the rest of the world our rates did not<\/em> rise as high, so the relief will be slow and steady. It will be nice for the majority of household to experience one major cost reduction.<\/p>\n For businesses, the pressures of rising costs will persist. I am not going to use the word \u201ctax\u201d, as Governments\u00a0say that they haven\u2019t introduced any new taxes or increased taxes. They apply indirect taxes and levies, so I am going to use the word \u201crevenue raising\u201d. With government debt at unprecedented levels particularly in the state of Victoria you will only see revenue raising heading in one direction\u2026UP. This will mean there will be no respite on the \u2018cost-of doing-business\u2019 pressures. To stay ahead, businesses must prioritise fiscal responsibility, leverage technology, and build teams of great people. These qualities will separate thriving enterprises from the rest.<\/p>\n 2025 offers tremendous opportunities for those with hunger and enthusiasm. Let\u2019s seize them together and make this year truly exceptional. I wish you all health, prosperity, and success on your journey ahead.<\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Mark Templeton<\/p>\n MD, TAG Financial Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2025 is a year of new beginnings and exciting possibilities. Managing Director of TAG Financial Services, Mark Templeton, looks back on the previous year, as well as reflecting on TAG’s growth, and looking ahead to our plans for 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-happening-at-tag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9132"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9167,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9132\/revisions\/9167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tagfinancial.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMark Templeton<\/strong>
\nManaging Director, TAG Financial Services<\/strong><\/p>\n