Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) on Corporations and Financial Services chair Senator David Fawcett has thrown his support behind the concept of an SMSF profession.
Speaking at the 2015 SMSF Association National Conference in Melbourne last week, Fawcett said: “The industry is undergoing rapid change and as it does so will create both fresh demands and new avenues for the professionals that now provide varied services to the more than 1 million SMSF trustees and members.”
In December last year, the PJC handed down a report into ways to increase the professional, ethical and education standards of the financial services industry.
SMSF Association chief executive Andrea Slattery was pleased with Fawcett’s endorsement.
“It’s been a long-standing position of the SMSF Association that there is a flourishing SMSF profession,” Slattery said.
“It’s been recognised by research, by what’s actively happening in the marketplace, and now is getting the seal of approval from an important parliamentary committee.
“It’s another critical step in developing the professional standards of advice that SMSF trustees and members are entitled to expect.”
SMSF Association patron Sir Anthony Mason pointed out the significance of the PJC report as it contained proposals to create a category of professional that had the ability to transcend the current skill set provided by accountants and financial planners.
Mason added it was a positive reflection on the industry body.
“The report’s recognition of the SMSF Association’s [position on] advice as a separate specialist area is a reflection of the association’s long-standing stance on this issue and of the way in which many businesses servicing the SMSF sector are presently being structured,” he said in his opening address at the conference.
