Specialisation is likely to increase within the financial services industry, as self-managed super funds (SMSFs) continue their rapid growth in popularity, according to Vanguard.
With SMSFs now being targeted by investors in droves, Vanguard has said financial advisers will need to undertake additional training to ensure they have an appropriate skill base for the sector.
“When clients are looking for that sort of advice, the adviser needs to have pretty high levels of technical skills,” Vanguard principal and head of market development and communication Robin Bowerman said.
“So I think we will see increasing levels of specialisation within the advisory industry, higher levels of education as a base point and more technical accreditation.”
Mr Bowerman said that often clients look to SMSFs when they feel the need to have more control of their own superannuation and wealth building.
He said that this change in the needs of clients has changed the traditional advice model that exists within the financial services industry.
“The SMSF sector, in terms of how advisers service it, differs from the traditional advice model, as typically the adviser was in the driving seat and the client is really outsourcing responsibility to the financial adviser,” Mr Bowerman said.
“With an SMSF, the control is with the client and what they’re really looking for from the adviser is a validation of their own ideas or new ideas that they can take way and execute.”
Mr Bowerman – who is also on the board of the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) – said the association’s recent statement that 2013 will be a year of change for SMSF advisers ties in with the need for more education within the sector.
New licensing changes would increase the need for SMSF auditors, accountants and financial advisers to be professionally competent, the statement said.
“What we were trying to say is that if you’re going to operate your advisory business within the SMSF sector, you need specialist skills to be able to do that successfully,” Mr Bowerman said.
“SMSFs are complex and so it’s important from the investor’s point of view to see that the adviser has specialised accreditation and skills.”
