Most financial advisers believe they will lose influence over a client’s funds upon the client’s death and see the lack of intergenerational continuity as a threat to their businesses, a recent survey found.
The research, commissioned by Lifeplan Funds Management, revealed that less than 10 per cent of financial advisers are confident of retaining influence over a client’s fund when the client dies.
Lifeplan’s general manager of strategic development, Matt Walsh, said that most advisers agreed that the value of their practices would be increased by between 10 to 30 per cent if they had an effective way to retain funds that will pass on to their clients’ heirs.
“Many realise the rapid ageing of their client base is a looming problem that threatens to reduce the value of their business,” Walsh said.
“This will be an increasing problem as the death rate increases among the baby boomer generation and an estimated $600 billion moves from one generation to the next over the coming decade.”
Of those surveyed, 91 per cent of financial advisers believe it is important to foster relationships with their clients’ younger family members, despite only a minority saying they have managed to do so.
