The SMSF industry should not become complacent but instead prepare for more superannuation reforms to be added on top of the current changes practitioners and trustees are already challenged by.
“We’re working through the most significant superannuation reform in the last decade but can we expect more reform to happen?” Self-managed Independent Superannuation Funds Association (SISFA) policy committee chair Michael Jones said at the SISFA Annual SMSF Forum in Melbourne today.
“The answer is absolutely yes.
“There is no question about it because the growth of super will be enormous – it’s already enormous and it’s an extraordinarily large and important [sector].
“And the role of SMSFs is so significant in this sector that governments will continue to wrestle with how to manage it, and also regulators will continue to wrestle with how you manage it.
“There is going to be more change so if the music has changed, you’ve got to change your steps as well.”
Jones said the super changes will have a significant impact on pensions, which will require practitioners to consider more effective strategies around transition-to-retirement income streams, the transfer balance cap, segregation, events-based reporting, super splitting, valuations, multiple funds, reserving and commencing pensions as soon as possible.
Recent modelling from Deloitte estimated the Australian superannuation industry will reach $9.5 trillion by 2035, growing from $2 trillion at 30 June 2015, and doubling to $4 trillion by 2025.
