Speaking to SMSF Adviser, Mayflower Consulting director Sarah Penn said smaller operators only managing 15 to 20 SMSFs may struggle to remain on top of the details and intricacies of self-managed super and miss opportunities for their clients.
“The problem is that if you’ve got 15 or 20 SMSF clients, they’re likely to be precious clients like all your other ones,” said Ms Penn.
“There’s an opportunity for someone to set up some sort of annual review service for [SMSF practitioners] who only have a limited number of SMSFs, to check trust deeds, strategies and what have you [while the practitioner] maintains their client relationship.”
These smaller SMSF firms will then have the confidence that the advice they are providing clients is high-quality, she said.
Ms Penn said estate planning and intergenerational wealth is currently another untapped area in the SMSF industry.
“These days SMSFs are used in a big part for wealth transfer,” she said.
“That means the way the SMSF is set up in the first place needs to support the thinking that eventually when the people that own the SMSF die, the money goes to the dependants or their kids in the way that they want it to happen.”
Ms Penn said that with the ageing population, estate planning issues will only become more prevalent.
Clients want to feel comfortable that when they die or lose capacity and are unable to continue running their SMSF, that the right outcomes occur, she said.
“I think there’s a big opportunity to really look after your clients properly [in this area],” Ms Penn said.
Unfortunately those 15-20 funds administrators are hiding many issues especially where using non-SMSF software and not keeping up to date. The offer of a review sounds good but the uptake would be poor as they prefer to try and hide the issues. I am sure the ATO will start targeting this segment as it is easy pickings.