Financial planners are looking to further align their business to the needs of an older client base, according to research from leading wealth researcher Investment Trends.
The December 2014 Retirement Planner Report reveals that a third of planners (32%) expect retirees in the 75+ cohort to comprise a greater percentage of their client base by 2017.
By comparison, 35 per cent of planners expect their clients in the accumulation phase will represent a smaller proportion of their client base by 2017.
“Planner expectations reflect Australia’s ageing Baby Boomer generation,” said Investment Trends Senior Analyst Recep Peker. “Over the next 25 years the number of Australians aged 65 and over is expected to double and planners are actively shifting their focus to align with this.”
The Government’s recent Intergenerational Report confirmed Australia’s increasing longevity with today’s 60 year-old likely to live to 86.4 for a male and 89.1 for a female.
Planners identified high income and low risk as the top priorities for their retiree clients.
When given a trade-off between five separate investment objectives, 68 per cent of planners identified “highest income” as the first or second-most important priority for meeting the best interests of retiree clients.
“Lowest risk” rated first or second priority for 65 per cent of planners, according to the report.
Other factors such as high liquidity, lowest cost and highest capital growth lag behind in terms of importance for this demographic.
Highest capital growth and lowest cost are the least important priorities for planners with retiree clients. Just 20 per cent of planners identified lowest cost as a top two priority, while only 8 per cent identified highest capital growth as such.
The December 2014 Retirement Planner Report, released to Investment Trends clients last month, is a comprehensive study of Australian financial planners and advice services for retirees and pre-retirees, together with the evolving attitudes and preferences of investors aged 40 and up. It is based on an in-depth survey of 617 financial planners between October and December 2014.
Source: Investment Trends
