Ludovic Sevestre, associate research director for Investment Trends, told SMSF Adviser that the latest research suggests that SMSF trustees are facing fewer obstacles to seeking advice, but that they have several “unmet needs”.
Although the final analysis of the SMSF sector as part of Investment Trends’ 2023 Financial Advice Report is still to be completed and is set for release in May, Sevestre said the key indicators are that financial advice is being sought by more SMSF trustees.
“One of the key insights from last year’s report was that financial advice was at a tipping point because of two main factors – that there are more accounts in accumulation phase, and there has been a 15 per cent increase in unmet advice needs,” Sevestre said.
“We had also asked trustees of SMSFs last year what was holding them back from seeking advice, and there has been an increase in the number who have said that nothing is holding them back.”
He said the trend that is currently emerging is that there are now fewer barriers to SMSF trustees seeking advice and that more trustees are now willing to contact an adviser.
“One of the things advisers should take away from this is the need to demonstrate their value to SMSF trustees, and this is quite positive, as we believe there is a sense that there are a lot of opportunities for advisers to engage more in the near-term with SMSF trustees,” Sevestre said.
“It seems trustees are more receptive to advice and they have a much broader range of needs.”
According to Sevestre, Investment Trends found that last year only 27 per cent of SMSF trustees were advised, compared to around 10 per cent of people whose superannuation is held in industry funds, suggesting that SMSF trustees are more willing to pay for speciality advice.
However, he also said the number of advised trustees has not grown substantially over the past few years with the number of advised SMSF trustees sitting at 160,000 compared to 155,000 the year before.
“It is slowly going up but when we look at historical data over the past 13 years it was trending at around 200,000 SMSF trustees using a financial adviser, so it has gone down and is a similar trend in the consumer space outside of SMSF,” he said.
He added that while there has been an increase in the number of newly established SMSFs by younger trustees, that may not translate into an increase in the number of people seeking advice.
“The reason many people choose to have an SMSF is the desire for more control over their investments and this is especially true among the younger cohort of SMSF trustees than in previous years,” he said.
“Based on that, there is a feeling of confidence and knowledge and although they may need advice they are confident they can manage it on their own.”
In its general 2023 Financial Advice Report, Investment Trends found that cost is still the number one barrier preventing everyday Australians from getting professional assistance.
The report found that 1.3 million Australians with advice needs, plan to seek an adviser in the next two years and that unadvised Australians who would pay for advice are prepared to commit an average of $570.
Additionally, close to 4 million Australians would be open to low-cost digital advice solutions if the right conditions were met.
“Digital advice is one of the alternatives of advice for those who don’t want to use an adviser, and could be a big part of the solution,” Sevestre said.
“But although people said they would be open to digital advice, many of them said they would not use it and would want the help of a human adviser before making any decisions.”
