If there is one thing we know for sure at No More Practice, it is the SMSF opportunity is of critical interest to planners, accountants and brokers alike. In fact, in our last survey, over 800 of you indicated it is number one on your “must have” education list this year.
Whether or not you intend to offer SMSF services and advice in your business, I believe it is necessary to get a thorough understanding of both the business opportunity and the sector itself. Because you will have clients who ask for it, and you will have referral partners who ask you to give them your clients if you don’t go there yourself.
For accountants going down the transition to licencing route, there are some serious decisions to make for you, your business and your clients. And if you don’t understand the implications of these decisions, it will cost you time and money.
We are finding the transition to licencing is not smooth or straightforward; that’s why we are working with some key education partners to build out some plain speaking and practical advice courses on this subject.
For advisers looking to move into the space, Sam Henderson in Series 4 is a perfect example of someone who is doing it well. Sam, however, is grappling with how he is going to achieve scale in his business when the advice for SMSF is so personalised.
Then there are the brokers out there that find a whole new market of potential property purchasers through their SMSF. For these brokers understanding the best way forward in this relatively new opportunity with new regulation and licencing to consider.
While SMSF is a potential gold mine for many practices, it also has the potential to derail practices who are not getting the best education and information to make sure they not only comply with ASIC regulations, but also that they are giving the best advice to clients.
By mid-June we should be able to launch our first guidelines module to get testing the business case for SMSF and how it would apply to your practice. For those of you who have already made up your minds, we will have a step-by-step course available by the third quarter this year.
Knowledge is power, and doing your homework this year on the SMSF opportunity, and all it entails, will definitely help you realise your practice potential.
