Commonwealth FP eyes SMSF market

In-house planners with the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will be expected to improve their self-managed super fund (SMSF) skills, with Australia’s third largest dealer group signalling its intention to overhaul its SMSF advice model in the coming months.

“Although we have some planners who offer SMSF advice, we’re not as successful in the DIY [do-it-yourself] market as we’d like to be,” said CBA financial planning chief executive Tim Gunning.

“It’s the fastest growing segment of the super industry and it doesn’t look like that growth is going to abate in the near future.”

Gunning said perceptions that bank-based financial planners didn’t need to be SMSF savvy because their clients were all low-net-worth or unsophisticated investors were misconceptions.

“A lot of our advisers are sitting on investment books of over $100 million, so it’s a real furphy to suggest we don’t assist sophisticated investors. That’s a rumour that’s really perpetrated by some of the aligned dealer groups. Like them, we can also satisfy a pretty complex set of needs.”

Gunning could not yet release precise details of the new program, but indicated that it would involve increased adviser training in the bank’s stock broking business Commsec.

“You’ll never really crack the DIY market unless you give clients access to direct equities, since that’s where a quarter to a third of most of the money in SMSFs is invested,” he said.

“We’re very much focused on superannuation, retirement planning and wealth accumulation, but we don’t really have a well-developed advice model in direct equities.”

News of the SMSF strategy came as the bank launched a walk-in investment shop to be manned by two paraplanners at its Bondi Junction branch in Sydney, with another four branches to follow suit.

Gunning said in the year ahead the CBA would also focus strongly on recruitment, particularly with taking on juniors from universities.

Meanwhile, CBA-aligned dealer group Financial Wisdom has signed-up two new practices with a total of 17 financial planners. Chief executive Paul Barrett said they would push through the 400 planner mark this month.

News of CBA’s move into SMSFs comes as AXA announced in a press release that it would launch a new SMSF service this month.

“Bringing together administrative, legal, taxation, financial advice and trustee services in a consolidated package is an industry first and will set the standard for SMSFs in Australia,” the statement said.