Selfmanagedsuper and research house CoreData have announced the winners of the eighth annual SMSF Service Provider Awards.
The winners, across 17 categories, represent the leading providers of services and products to the SMSF sector, according to advisers working within it.
CoreData managing director Jason Andriessen, who was involved in collecting and analysing the adviser feedback, said a number of characteristics, including price and the level of technical support provided, were critical to advisers favouring the finalists in each category over other service providers.
“Generally speaking, pricing is always important. From an adviser perspective, technical expertise and customer strong service support [are key]. Transparency and simplicity are always highly valued as well,” Andriessen said.
He pointed out the awards were necessary to SMSF service providers in helping them understand where their service was benchmarked against their competitors.
“From the perspective of [their] customers and the end client, [the awards are] enormously important. It provides an evidence base to make decisions, rather than gut feeling,” he added.
The awards were based on a survey of 464 advisers conducted in August.
The 2020 adviser-voted winners for the best SMSF service providers in their respective categories are:
Australian shares – CommSec
International shares – Vanguard
Fixed income – PIMCO
Administration – Heffron SMSF Solutions
Commercial property – Charter Hall
Residential property loans – Macquarie
Investment platform – Macquarie Wrap
Cash and term deposits – Macquarie
Insurance – Zurich
Actuarial certificate provider – Accurium
SMSF accounting/administration software – BGL Corporate Solutions
Audit – ASF Audits
ETF – Vanguard
Listed investment company – Argo Investments
Trust deed provider – Topdocs
Infrastructure – Magellan Financial Group
Innovator – La Trobe Financial.
The leading service provider firms for SMSF trustees were also named at the awards.
