The SMSF Auditors Association of Australia (SMSF AAA) has expanded its nationwide presence with two new appointments to its board of directors aimed at increasing its representation in a couple of Australia’s largest states.
Specifically, PKF audit assurance partner Steven Russo has joined the industry body’s board of directors to represent South Australia and Victorian-based Baumgartner Super director David Burrows has also taken up an official position with the SMSF AAA.
“As a board this year we’ve been engaged in strategic planning and have cemented the direction that we want to take with regulators and enhancing education opportunities. We’re thrilled now to have representation in Sydney, Melbourne and South Australia and [have] a potential [board] candidate in Queensland,” SMSF AAA president Lina De Marco told delegates at the professional body’s SMSF Conference 2022 held on the Gold Coast yesterday.
Russo said he was very pleased to be one of the newest directors on the SMSF AAA board.
“[The] association is certainly going to play a unique and important role as the peak body for us all going forward,” he noted.
“Part of my passion, which I’ll try and bring to the role, certainly is self-managed super funds and in the true sense reducing the red tape and bureaucracy, prudent investment in diverse asset classes and engagement in education with the community and our members.”
Burrows revealed he is looking to raise the profile of the SMSF AAA in Melbourne through his role as a director of the organisation.
Through its growing presence across Australia, the auditor body’s ultimate aim is to set up chapter communities in each state.
The SMSF AAA was formed four years ago and has a growing membership that currently numbers around 670 practitioners.
“With auditor registrations dropping annually and an industry that is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, we need associations like ourselves to represent SMSF auditors with the regulators and raise the professional competence and reputation of our members,” De Marco said.
