Advisers ‘bullish’ on SMSF revenue growth

Professional advisers specialising in self-managed super expect their revenue to grow by more than 10 per cent over the next three years, with financial planners especially “bullish”, the CoreData SMSF Professionals Report has found.

“Financial planners are slightly more bullish than accountants on SMSF revenue growth, with more than three quarters anticipating revenue growth of more than 10 per cent (76.7 per cent vs 72.8 per cent) and more than half of the planners that say this is the case expecting revenue growth of up to 25 per cent (53.6 per cent),” the report states.

Both accountants and financial planners listed “strategic growth” as the greatest source of expected revenue growth, with three quarters of respondents also pointing to the enduring relevance of client referrals between the two sectors.

“This suggests a need for planners to start building strong referral partner relationships with those accounting businesses that are not interested in becoming licensed to provide SMSF advice,” said CoreData head of financial services Kristen Turnbull in a statement accompanying the report’s release.

“Our research on this sector tells us that a substantial portion of the accountant market have no intention of obtaining a licence to provide SMSF services, which means that by 2016 they will need to find alternative arrangements to deal with existing and future clients with SMSF establishment or advice needs.

“Planners should be building these relationships today as a foundation for future growth,” Ms Turnbull said.