Australia’s $531 billion SMSF sector was not in danger of artificially creating a bubble in the country’s property market, according to Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos.
The federal government was supportive of the “sturdy independence” the sector provided trustees and continued to favour “light-touch” regulation for SMSFs, Sinodinos told selfmangedsuper.
Despite that, the government planned to keep a watchful eye on the sector’s development, he said.
“We don’t believe that sector [SMSF] is in danger of artificially causing a bubble in the property market, but we are keeping an eye on the development of the sector because it is a different beast to other elements of the sector like industry funds and the big retail and corporate funds,” he said.
“The financial systems inquiry is an opportunity for us to understand better how the whole superannuation sector is impacting on the rest of the financial system and its implications of the allocation of capital in the economy.”
Asked whether the government believed trustee education was an issue requiring regulation, he said it did not.
“I suppose it’s a bit like getting married … you don’t necessarily need a licence for those sorts of things and when people are exercising their independence, all you can do as a government in this sort of sector is just provide as much information as you can directly and through the financial system,” he said.
“I want financial literacy to be more integrated into the school curriculum so that by the time kids come out of school they’re actively thinking about how they manage their finances, and they have a good solid base level of knowledge about how to do that and the implications of super and other elements of the financial system and the effect on their future.”