The latest Investment Trends research has shown the ability of SMSF advisers to take on more clients has fallen to a three year low but this area of their businesses has been a key revenue generator for both general and specialist practitioners.
New data shared exclusively with selfmanagedsuper show the current average number of SMSF clients being serviced has fallen in the past year as has what advisers consider to be the ideal average number of clients.
“In 2023, 106 was the ideal [average number of clients] and 92 is the current number of clients being served for a difference of 14. In 2024 the difference was 15 [between the 107 clients served and ideal number of 122 clients],” Investment Trends senior analyst Yiğit Günhan noted.
“Now, in 2025, the difference is 10 [between the 81 clients served and ideal number of 91 clients].
“What does that tell us? It could mean advisers are overburdened and don’t want additional clients or can’t take on more SMSF advice, but that’s not the case. They still can take on more SMSF clients. It’s just their ability to take on a lot more is becoming limited.”
He recognised this is a significant development seeing SMSF members who don’t currently receive financial advice are more than likely to seek this type of assistance in the future making an even bigger gap in the market a real possibility.
Despite this constraint Günhan acknowledged SMSF advisers, particularly specialists who have more than 20 SMSF clients, had reported increased revenue from this type of business activity over the past year.
To this end he pointed out 45 per cent of all SMSF specialists had experienced an increase in revenue, up from 36 per cent in 2024 but only 26 per cent of SMSF generalists, practitioners with one to 20 SMSF clients, reported revenue growth, down from 28 per cent in 2024 and from 25 per cent in 2023.
“You can clearly see the real winners of the last year were specialists with quite a significant proportion, 88 per cent, stating they’ve seen increased revenue from providing SMSF advice,” he explained.
“We also asked SMSF advisers what proportion of their practice revenue is derived from SMSF advice and looking at the trend since 2012 advisers are currently receiving 31 per cent, which is the highest proportion of revenue from SMSF advice in the last 13 years or so,” he said.
