The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has confirmed its work in examining the operation of managed accounts has commenced, highlighting these actions have particular relevance for the SMSF sector.
“The SMSF sector and the managed accounts sector overlap. One of the examples in Report 824, our review of SMSF establishment advice, [found] financial advisers recommending clients establish an SMSF to facilitate investment into an in-house managed account offering,” ASIC senior executive leader Leah Sciacca told delegates at the SMSF Association National Conference 2026 in Adelaide last week.
“Our report notes that one of our concerns in relation to these files was that these advisers were using the notion of control as justification for recommending an SMSF without exploring what that notion of control meant to the client.
“In these instances we were concerned that these advisers had recommended an SMSF an investment into the managed account offering without basing all judgments on the client’s circumstances.”
Sciacca also took the opportunity to outline what the regulator is examining in the managed account space on a macro level.
“Our focus will be on licensees and advisers who recommend or offer managed accounts to retail clients and we will be examining how licensees are managing compliance with their general obligations, which at their core require advice licensees to act efficiently, honestly and fairly,” she explained.
“We’ll also examine how financial advisers, when they recommend managed accounts, comply with their obligations, including to act in the best interest of the client.”
She indicated significant growth in a particular product, such as that experienced in the managed account sector, will always trigger an ASIC review.
“It’s been well reported that there has been wider adoption of managed accounts and significant growth in funds under management in the managed accounts sector in recent years,” she said.
“When regulators observe significant shifts like this in the market composition and dynamics, we’re naturally interested to understand what’s driving these changes, what the impacts are, how different incentives might influence these changes and most importantly what it means for consumers.”
