The bulk of advisers expect self-managed super fund (SMSF) revenue to grow by more than 25 per cent over the next three years, largely driven by referrals from accountants, a CoreData survey has revealed.
While three quarters (76.7 per cent) of surveyed planners are optimistic that the SMSF revenue will increase by more than 10 per cent in the next three years, 53 per cent think its growth will exceed 25 per cent, according to the report.
Perhaps most interestingly, more than half of the planners said the revenue growth would come from accountant referrals.
"This suggests a need for planners to start building strong referral partner relationships with those accounting businesses that are not interested in becoming licensed to provide SMSF advice," CoreData head of financial services, Kristen Turnbull, said.
"Our research on this sector tells us that a substantial portion of the accountant market have no intention of obtaining a license to provide SMSF services, which means that by 2016 they will need to find alternative arrangements to deal with existing and future clients with SMSF establishment or advice needs.
"Planners should be building these relationships today as a foundation for future growth," she added.
Legislative barriers remained the greatest inhibitor to SMSF revenue growth, with almost half of planners (45 per cent) citing it as the biggest SMSF challenge in their business today.
