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SMSFs and financial advice: A matter of cost and trust

The key reason people cite for choosing to run their own self-managed super fund (SMSF) is more control over their investments. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need or value professional advice. They do.

The problem is, they can’t always get what they want.

During a period of ongoing economic and financial market uncertainty, the number of SMSFs without a financial adviser and with unmet advice needs continues to grow rapidly. The 2023 Vanguard/Investment Trends SMSF report found 270,000 SMSFs had unmet advice needs in 2023, up 15% on the previous year. 

At the same time, SMSFs using financial advisers has stagnated since 2020, with only 27% saying they had sought advice in the past year. This might seem contradictory given the unmet demand for advice, so what’s going on?

Barriers to seeking advice

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