The move to wealth management: it should come as little surprise by now that tremendous opportunities exist for.

CPAs to expand their offerings beyond traditional accounting and tax services and into the greater financial services world. However, these opportunities still remain largely untapped. Research by our firm, CEG Worldwide, shows less than one in five accountants (17.4 percent) is currently providing investment products to their clients. Even fewer (10.3 percent) are providing insurance services.

But looking ahead, the picture is much different in the minds of many CPAs, Substantial numbers of CPAs in our survey reported that they expect to begin offering financial services, to the point that nearly half of all CPAs will be providing investment and/or insurance services to their clients. (See Exhibit 1.)

Specifically, if accountants follow through on their plans as they reported to our researchers, 48.9 percent will offer investment services within three years. Of them, a substantial number--10.3 percent of all surveyed CPAs--expect to derive more than 40 percent of their revenue from these services. On the insurance side, 2 out of 5, or 39.7 percent, expects to offer insurance services.

Happily, the eagerness of many CPAs to offer financial services is matched by an eagerness on the part of clients to obtain those services from their CPA. As Exhibit 2 shows, over half of all prospects (individuals and small business owners who have not yet obtained financial products from accountants) would be very interested in doing so. There's even more promise with insurance products, which three-quarters of prospects are likely to obtain from their accountants.

These kinds of numbers mean that it's highly likely there are at least some among your own clients who would like to obtain their financial services from you as their trusted CPA. If you don't provide them to your clients, another CPA might very well.

Exhibit 1. Expected Growth of CPAs Providing Financial Services

                   Sifgnificant Providers   Providers   Non-Providers

Investments
  Today                    2.5%               13.9%         82.60%
  In Three Years          10.3%               38.6          51.10%

Insurance
  Today                    1.8%                8.5%         89.70%
  In Three Years           4.6%               35.1%         60.30%

N = 1,685 CPA programs.

Source: CEG Worldwide and Prince & Associates, 2002.

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Exhibit 2. Prospects Want Financial Products from Their Accountants

Individuals
  Investment products   52.6%
  Insurance products    68.8%

Small business owners
  Investment products   47.1%
  Insurance products    86.9%

All prospects
  Investment products   50.9%
  Insurance products    74.6%

N = 1,521 individua;s with annual incomes of $75,000 or more and 719
small business owners had benn in business at least ten years and
generated at least $10 million annually.

Source: Price & Associates, 2002.

Note: Table made from bar graph.