Much has been said about the current ‘shift’ in trustee demographics within the SMSF sector, with a younger audience continuing to be attracted to self-managed super funds. This growth appears to be creating the need for advisers to more purposefully consider their service offer to SMSF trustees. The recent SPAA/Russell 2014 Intimate with Self-Managed Superannuation Report found advisers expect a growing demand from individuals within the 31-40 age group.
On the flip-side, the bulk of SMSF wealth sits now within a growing number of post-retirement members. The needs of these individuals to seek advice around retirement, aged care and estate planning are becoming increasingly important. So, how is your business positioned to service these trustees?
What has become apparent is the clear and distinct demands that these demographics are requiring from professionals. This will require you to have to think a little deeper about the type of SMSF client you’re seeking and the services you will provide. In addition to the changing age demographics, advisers also need to understand the various trustee behaviours (outsourcer, controller, and coach-seeker) to ensure you target and end up with your ideal client.
Your SMSF service offer will need to adapt to the changes of trustees and importantly the technology and social revolution currently transforming our lives. No longer can we rely on ‘the way we did things’ as a future business model of success. Many professional services firms are developing new models and disruptive models to suit these changing needs of trustees – so, I ask the question? What are you doing about this in your business?
Your SMSF offering to trustees can be impacted by many things. I have included a range of areas that you may need to give some further thought to in developing or reinventing your SMSF offer:
- How are you currently delivering services to trustees and charging for these services? Do you need to shift to a regular fixed-fee arrangement and away from a time-based approach?
- To what extent are you using data automation within your business to drive efficiency with your SMSF clients?
- Is it timely to move to cloud-based applications to provide a more collaborative approach with trustees and other key stakeholders?
- Is there a need to consider formulating a specialist team within your business to deal with the growing number of SMSFs?
- What services are you currently providing? Are there any ‘gaps’ in your offer? Is it time to consider expanding your services to support the needs of your trustee clients?
- Is outsourcing a viable option to allow you to expand into more value-based advice services?
The starting point in this process should be to better understand the needs of your existing clients. Too often, advisers fail to survey and gain a better understanding of the needs of their clients. You should also consider how to better segment your existing SMSFs clients to better define your value proposition to the potentially differing customer segments.
These points only scratch the surface of the analysis many professionals need to start thinking about to grow their SMSF business. Whilst we see a growing number of new entrants enter the market, never before have these individuals been more financially savvy, informed and engaged to work towards their retirement objectives. You and your business could play a vital role in many trustees’ success, but it is important that you’ve got the right offer to suit their needs today and into the future.
Aaron is a leading SMSF industry expert, blogger and a No More Practice Expert. He is also the Managing Director and Founder of The SMSF Academy.
