The founder of the most recent SMSF document provider to enter the market will seek to raise $300,000 via crowdfunding to be able to expand the business into other financial advice-related documents.
LightYear Docs founder Grant Abbott said he had self-funded the business during its set-up and launch, but would offer users an opportunity to invest a minimum of $3000 or up to a maximum of $10,000 for a stake in the business.
“The investment will be similar to that of a dealer group ownership model and users will be able to pick up the upside in the growth of the business,” Abbott said.
“The advice document market is ripe for disruption, particularly as technology reduces costs, and we will be able to add other non-SMSF documents. We have added non-disclosure agreements and are looking at SMSF statements of advice in the future as well.”
The fundraising will be conducted by small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) fundraiser Fundsition, which is licensed by ASIC and where Abbott’s brother, Nigel Abbott, is a director.
Grant Abbott also indicated he would continue to head The SMSF Party, which he was unable to register before the recent federal election, and would use it to place pressure on the government and opposition in areas where SMSF vehicles and trustees may be affected by policy changes.
“[Prime Minister] Scott Morrison has been returned, but we will aim to keep him honest,” he said.
“As treasurer he helped erode concessional contribution caps from $50,000 to $25,000 for over 55s and we will push back against that.
“There is likely to be no changes to franking credits, but we want to enshrine that in law and plan to look after baby boomers heading into retirement.”
He said the party would use the next three years to build its member base and would focus on SMSF trustees, self-funded retirees and baby boomers who were moving into retirement and the pension system.
“The past election has shown there is a strong block of votes in those groups and it is where the ALP got knocked off, and it is something we will point out to the government as well,” he said.
The SMSF Party was able to record enough members to be registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), but that did not take place before the election was called, he said.
Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, the AEC cannot register any party once an election is called and has indicated on its website it will not begin registrations again until 28 June 2019.
