The latest industry research has shown both advisers and accountants have expressed the need to be provided with more educational material for current and potential SMSF clients regarding regulatory changes and industry developments.
Investment Trends research has found an increase in the demand for this type of support from both groups of practitioners over the past 12 months.
Among the advisers surveyed this year, 29 per cent said they wanted educational content to cover off this subject to help them service their SMSF clients, up from 26 per cent in 2023. The number of accountants wanting this specific type of support actually fell from 39 per cent last year to 36 per cent in 2024, but on the topic of regulatory changes to superannuation alone, 43 per cent of the cohort this year wanted more information for their clients compared to 39 per cent expressing the same sentiment in 2023.
“Practitioners are increasingly calling for content on regulatory changes and industry developments, which does reflect the changing environment in that sense,” Investment Trends analyst Yigit Gunhan told selfmanagedsuper.
A greater amount of educational material on the roles and responsibilities of SMSF trustees was also assigned significant importance among practitioners. This need ranked third among the advisers surveyed, although fewer respondents believed this was required, with 33 per cent of participants admitting this was the case in 2024 as opposed to 46 per cent last year.
Accountants though thought this area of support was more critical now, with 39 per cent of the group wanting additional information on this subject this year compared to 31 per cent in 2023.
In terms of other priorities regarding potential education material, both groups differed in what they cited as most critical.
“For advisers the number one and number two areas they would like more educational content on were best practice examples of using an SMSF and material about SMSF suitability,” Gunhan noted.
“For accountants the first thing they wanted was educational material about estate planning, which, as we know from our other reports, is an area on the rise for advice needs, so maybe accountants are looking to understand this better just to see how they can adapt it to their practice.”
The same research showed the Division 296 tax is likely to be the most significant current legislative change for their clients.
Investment Trends performed its analysis based on information gathered via an online survey conducted during February and March where 652 accountants and 177 advisers took part.
