SMSF trustees want advice on strategy, not products
Self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustees find it "very challenging" to find good professional advice, and nearly half of them believe financial planners are out to sell products to benefit themselves, according to the latest SMSF Professionals' Association (SPAA) research.
The Intimate with Self Managed Superannuation report, released yesterday, was commissioned by Russell Investments and SPAA and conducted by CoreData. It surveyed 1,406 Australian consumers, of whom 337 were SMSF trustees.
Only two in five trustees (42.1 per cent) have a dedicated financial adviser, and 41 per cent believe they don't need one at all.
Russell managing director for retail investment services Patricia Curtin said SMSF trustees were looking for someone to provide a 'technician' role that would sit between the financial adviser and accountant.
"I'm not sure the technician role sits between the accountant and the adviser though. I think it's absolutely one and the same. But trustees aren't seeing that, as such. So [financial planners need to present themselves] as the technician, as the strategist - not as the product provider," Curtin said.
Financial advisers needed to "sidle up" to SMSF trustees rather than adopt an "I told you so" mentality, she added.
"Trustees will expect to be serviced in the style where they are the controller in many ways. So the control has shifted over from the adviser to the client," Curtin said.
Financial planners need to lead the conversation with "what's keeping trustees awake at night", Curtin said. It may or may not end in a product solution, but since the financial adviser will be paid on a fee-for-service basis there will be no conflict, she added.
"We need to reposition ourselves as leading with strategy. We know that reaching their retirement income goals is [trustees'] biggest fear. What are the investment strategies/asset allocation decisions that they need to make to ensure that when they decide to retire they have enough income to do so?" Curtin said.
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