Individuals who will provide SMSF advice in a hybrid accounting and financial planning environment in the future may not be the highest-quality professionals due to a communication gap between learning institutions at all levels and the industry, according to some sector leaders.

A recent property study has shown four inner-city suburbs of Melbourne are currently offering strong investment opportunities. Nyko Property’s “Annual Recommended Suburbs Survey” identified the inner-west suburbs of Footscray and Maidstone and the inner-north suburbs of Thornbury and Preston as good value areas in which to invest as they were undervalued in 2008/09, with sales […]

While active international share fund managers generated strong returns over the three years to 30 September this year, they did not do as well as the benchmark used to measure their relative performance, according to research house Zenith Investment Partners’ “2014 Global Sector Review”. The global equities yardstick used by the international share managers is […]

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued two interpretive decisions reinforcing its stance on zero interest loans issued to SMSFs.

This is the final selfmangedsuper newsletter for the year and as such we would like to thank you, our readers, for your support throughout 2014.

The operations and in turn the inherent characteristics of accounting practices would need to change in the next decade as their core activities, such as SMSF compliance, were eroded through technological development, according to an accountancy consultant.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) decision to amend the wholesale investor classification that will allow some SMSF trustees to be included in this category has been described by a superannuation consultant as unusual in comparison to the general protectionist attitude towards the sector.

The Financial System Inquiry’s (FSI) concern over lack of portfolio diversification within superannuation funds, resulting in a recommendation to ban the use of gearing inside SMSFs, was a worrying development, according to an industry expert.

Fractional property investing could provide the solution for SMSF trustees looking to invest in the asset class if the government acted upon the Financial System Inquiry’s recommendation to ban limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA), according to the head of a funds management house.