Financial advisers are overwhelmingly optimistic on the 12-month outlook for the industry, but doubts remain around the self-managed-super-fund (SMSF) segment.
According to research from AIA Australia, advisers expect to see growth coming from families and the self-employed.
The AIA Australia Adviser Partnership Survey of 1100 advisers from around the country asked where advisers expected to see growth in 2012, how far advanced their practices were in responding to recent financial reforms and to what extent they were using techno-gadgetry and social media with clients.
Despite the company’s insurance focus it claims the research examines a cross section of advisers, from risk writers to investment planners.
Advisers across all states were upbeat on the year ahead, with 89 per cent expecting the protection market to grow and less than 1 per cent expecting it to reverse.
The remaining 10 per cent saw the market as remaining stable or were unsure of a direction either way.
When asked where they saw this growth coming from, the two standout growth areas across all states were families (19 per cent) and the self-employed (18.4 per cent).
The least likely growth segment was singles (2.3 per cent), closely followed by those under 30 (3.1 per cent) and double-income, no-kids households (DINKS, 3.1 per cent).
Surprisingly SMSFs did not feature as a priority area for future growth.
“We were quite surprised to see that SMSFs didn’t feature in the top-three growth categories for any state surveyed,” says AIA Australia’s general manager – Life Insurance, Damien Mu.
“Given this is the fastest growing segment in the superannuation space, I think there are still a number of advisers looking at how they can be serving this growing area.”
The research found advisers are at vastly different stages in communicating the changes around Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms to clients.
Nearly half are still waiting to initiate discussions with clients on the FoFA changes, and at the other end of the scale, a third of advisers have begun proactive discussions, including those that have implemented communication campaigns with clients around the reforms.
Just over a third of advisers across all states indicated they were beginning to make changes to their practices in relation to FoFA.
“The survey results provide an interesting perspective on how advisers are currently responding to changes occurring in the protection market and also how far along they feel they are in preparing their businesses for FoFA,” says Mu.
“As a partnering specialist, it’s helpful for AIA Australia to know where the gaps are and how we can be supporting advisers to address these areas.”
