The SMSF Association has revealed it is in the process of undertaking new research on the sector, including the cost of running a fund, the results of which will be analysed and published later this year.
“We are doing some significant research on how cost levels [of SMSFs] have changed over the last seven years or so and we’ll probably publish that around November,” SMSF Association chief executive John Maroney said during an XY Adviser podcast.
“That’ll show some really interesting trends and we expect it will show the relative cost attractiveness from self-managed super funds is better now than it was seven years ago compared to larger funds.
“So we’re thinking that’s a really positive message to be putting out into the marketplace.”
On a further optimistic note for the sector, Maroney noted the issue of establishing and using an SMSF inappropriately to acquire property is now being addressed in a better manner.
“[SMSFs have] had a fair bit of attraction on the property side. There are some issues there that need careful monitoring, [but] we think they are being well monitored by the authorities, so we’re quite comfortable that the rules are okay,” he said.
Most importantly, the role property spruikers are playing in the process seems to be increasingly controlled in an effective way, according to Maroney.
“I think there is a risk with property spruikers going out there and saying ‘here’s this great property, [you can buy it] off the plan [and] we can buy that through a self-managed super fund’,” he said.
“That seems to have dissipated – it was a concern probably three or four years ago – but the activity [currently] is much lower and I think the regulators are getting better at noticing that and cracking down on where that shouldn’t be happening.”
The cost of running an SMSF has been the subject of debate with ASIC reporting figures that were disputed by the industry and then subsequently revised downwards with the release of data from the ATO.
