The age of SMSF members has continued to decline, with the latest ATO statistics showing nearly 40 per cent of those who recently entered the sector were under 45.
The figures were released in the ATO “SMSF Quarterly Statistical Report March 2026”, which showed those aged 35 to 44 made up 38.9 per cent of new members for that quarter, ahead of the next largest cohort – those aged 45 to 54 – who made up 33.4 per cent of new members.
In the report, the ATO breaks out those aged over 45 into five-year blocks, so those aged 45 to 49 accounted for 18.8 per cent and those aged 50 to 54 made up 14.6 per cent, while the next largest group was those aged 25 to 34 at 9.9 per cent, just ahead of those aged 55 to 59 at 9.6 per cent.
When viewed in terms of the total proportion of the SMSF population, those aged 35 to 44 represent around one in eight members, or 12.2 per cent, compared to around one in five for those aged 45 to 54 (21.4 per cent) and those aged 65 to 75 (21.5 per cent), while those in the decade before retirement, 55 to 64, represent one in four members (24.9 per cent).
In terms of the growth in total funds, the regulator reported there were 11,687 new funds and 658 exits for net growth of 11,029 to 672,805 SMSFs, while total members increased by 19,000 from the December 2025 quarter to 1.234 million.
This was consistent with growth seen over previous quarters in 2025 when member numbers increased by 20,000 over the September quarter and 30,000 in the June quarter.
Despite this growth, two-member funds remain the preferred option for most SMSFs, with 67.9 per cent of funds reporting they operate in that way, followed by 25.3 per cent having only a single member – with both of those figures varying by around 1 per cent for the past five years.
Three and four-member funds each represent around 3 per cent of all funds, while five and six-member funds represent only 0.3 per cent of SMSFs five years after legislation was introduced allowing for their creation.
Jason Spits
SENIOR JOURNALIST
Jason is a senior journalist with Benchmark Media and writes for the selfmanagedsuper website and magazine and smstrusteenews website. He has covered financial services since 1999 and has written about life insurance, superannuation, investment management and financial advice, in both a freelance and in-house capacity, and also did a brief stint as a media manager for an industry association. He has been the editor of trade titles Money Management and Financial Standard, and was most recently senior journalist with life insurance title Riskinfo.
Articles by Jason