A sector specialist has confirmed accountants operating without an Australian financial services licence can provide their SMSF clients a pro forma generic investment strategy template as long as it is delivered with appropriate disclaimers.
“There is an exemption under the Corporations Regulations, but the accountant must make it clear that the strategy is a generic template only,” Accurium head of SMSF education Mark Ellem told attendees of an Accurium webinar held today.
“It’s then up to the trustees, either by themselves or by going and talking to a licensed adviser, to ensure that it’s tailored to the fund to meet the relevant requirements.”
Further, Ellem recognised in these situations the accountant must make it clear to the client the provision of the template does not constitute an endorsement of that particular investment strategy.
While an unlicensed accountant can supply their clients with a generic investment strategy template, he warned this document will not satisfy Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulation 4.09, which stipulates an investment strategy must be formulated so as to give regard to the whole of the circumstances of the SMSF.
This includes elements such as the risks involved in holding particular investments, the composition of the investments as a whole, the liquidity of the assets held and the ability of the SMSF to discharge its liabilities.
Ellem pointed out this is consistent with the message delivered within ATO QC 23320.
“[Here the ATO says] take care if you’re using a standard investment strategy template as they may not meet super rules, must be appropriately tailored to your fund’s circumstances and must be reviewed regularly as required by super law. So that’s at least on an annual basis,” he said.
“So as an unlicensed accountant we can provide a generic template, so it might be the same for every fund.
“[Also] we can talk about maybe the asset allocations among the various categories, but it still is a generic template.”
