By Ross Kelly
FINANCIAL planners who want to attract and retain Australia’s most affluent clients will have to develop their expertise in giving charitable advice, a new study has found.
The past three years of economic prosperity has meant more millionaires for Australia. According to a recent Merrill Lynch report there are 134,000 of them — and they want to know the best ways to share at least some of the wealth.
A nationwide survey by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) found 115 financial planners who specialised in servicing high-net-worth clients were three times more likely to offer philanthropic advice to clients today than in 2002.
These days 44 per cent of financial planners tell their clients about the best ways to give to charities, up from only 14 per cent three years ago, when markets weren’t running so hot.
And the generosity is expected to continue, according to researcher Dr Kym Madden, who predicted the nation’s most affluent would get even richer over the next 40 years, as they inherent from their baby boomer parents.
Madden said a new Federal Government initiative — Prescribed Private Funds — had given clients new opportunities to donate more tax effectively. But she said the initiative contained added complexity that needed to be worked through with a savvy financial adviser.
“Advisers are realising that clients have got an increased capacity to give, and they will need to help them do so to provide a more holistic planning service.”
Madden said adviser education in this area was still in its infancy, adding there are only a few private organisations offering training.
