The number of SMSFs has hit an all-time high as has the number of members, driven by growth across each quarter of the past financial year, according to the latest SMSF data released by the ATO.
The data, which covers the June quarter 2022, shows the total number of SMSFs is now 603,432 and the total members within SMSFs is 1,123,430. These figures represent an increase of 25,656 funds since the June quarter 2021 and an increase of 47,631 members across the same time period.
The growth in the total number of funds was evident in the level of establishments and wind-ups across each quarter of the 2022 financial year, with 8339 funds set up in the September quarter 2021, compared to 589 wind-ups.
From this point on, establishments dropped off – 7534 in the December quarter 2021, 6498 in the March quarter 2022 and 5342 in the June quarter 2022 – but wind-ups followed a similar downward path – 711 in the December quarter 2021, 552 in the March quarter 2022 and to their lowest-ever figure of 205 in the June quarter 2022.
The level of wind-ups was the lowest figure for a financial year since 2012 and the June quarter number was the lowest since September 2016 when 174 wind-ups were recorded.
The total balance of assets inside SMSFs rose by $24 million over the financial year, rising from $813.69 billion in June 2021 to a high point of $882.07 billion in March 2022, before falling to $837.75 billion by the end of the June quarter.
Cryptocurrency assets were stable at $1.373 billion, decreasing slightly from the start of the financial year when they represented $1.392 billion of total assets, however, these levels represent a sizeable increase over the 2021 financial when they were around $240 million of total SMSF assets.
Limited recourse borrowing arrangements also held steady, accounting for $60.6 billion of total assets, up from $52.85 billion at June 2021.
