A higher number of accountants who are not accredited to provide investment advice have been referring their self managed super fund (SMSF) clients to one rather than several financial planners over the last 12 months, new figures show.
The OneVue / Investment Trends 2013 SMSF Accountant Report reveals 28 per cent of accountants, up from 22 per cent in comparison to a year ago, are preferring not to refer SMSF clients to multiple financial planners but rather one trusted source that they have cemented a relationship with.
OneVue head of partner solutions Brett Marsh said individuals who are recommended to seek advice from a third party expect to be referred to someone who is skilled in SMSFs and who their accountant has confidence in.
“If accountants are going to encourage SMSF clients to engage with a new specialist, having a trusted relationship with that specialist is vital both in terms of client satisfaction and client retention,” Marsh said.
“With a number of mergers taking place between financial planning and accounting practices across the board, those that don’t offer an all encompassing service for SMSF clients are seeing greater value in building alliances with trusted professionals in order to remain competitive.”
Marsh said according to the OneVue / Investment Trends 2013 SMSF Accountant Report, 85 per cent of accountants have SMSF clients with investment-related queries, so having the qualifications or the contacts to provide that advice is a valuable service advantage.
“It’s not just the relationship between accountant and adviser that’s important though, it’s also the means by which they can work together, something we’ve been focusing on a lot at OneVue, particularly with the roll out of our new SMSF services for accountants and advisers,” Marsh said.
“In August this year we launched an accountant login so that accountants, like advisers who use our Unified Managed Account investment platform to administer their clients’ SMSFs, can get secure online access to comprehensive reporting that is provided both daily and as part of the end of year tax report.
“This includes substantiation documents that have been received throughout the year and which are required to complete the SMSF audit, as well as additional online reporting such as portfolio valuations and BGL Simple Fund download files.
“We also created the Accountant Ready solution, which includes data loading into BGL Simple Fund software and electronic workpaper preparation.
“These initiatives allow the accountant who the adviser is working with to view the client’s investment portfolio and more efficiently complete the accounting, compliance, audit and lodgement as required.”
Marsh added that the offering had generated a lot of calls from interested parties because it allows accountants and advisers to work in tandem while removing a lot of the administration work for accountants.
“We see that there is a growing importance being placed on adviser and accountant relationships and it is something that service providers need to support and make simpler going forward,” he said.