Westpac dealer group targets super clients

Westpac Financial Planning’s advisers will target the over-55 demographic in a concerted effort to capitalise on the proposed superannuation concessions stemming from last year’s Budget.

Aman Ramrakha, Westpac Financial Planning’s head of technical services, said educating its advisers and clients on the super changes and employing strategies to benefit from these will form a focus for the group in the lead up to the limited window of opportunity the legislation has opened.

This will include a marketing campaign, client seminars and the launch of a superannuation strategies booklet outlining 14 strategies to leverage the changes to maximum effect.

“Most of our work is making sure people are aware that there’s a window that shuts on June 30, 2007,” Ramrakha said.

He stressed that the dealer group is trying to impress upon people the growing urgency of acting now, with the unfortunate inevitability that many people will approach their adviser too late to make the necessary adjustments to their superannuation arrangements.

The ability to make a one-off undeducted superannuation contribution of $1 million forms the centrepiece of the push within the dealer group’s Private Bank and high-net-worth client space.

In a technical briefing on the detailed superannuation changes proposed to come into effect from July 1, 2007, Sue Merriman, BT Financial Group’s head of technical, said BT would be “pushing the message out there to as many people as possible before July 1”.

After detailing a number of case studies describing strategies to obtain maximum benefit from the $1 million post-tax contribution allowed before June 30, Merriman concluded that while potentially of great value, they were of such sophistication that most individual investors should not attempt them without the aid of a financial planner.