Trustees need to assess SMSF product offers with greater scrutiny or risk incurring heavy fines under the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) new penalty regime, a specialist superannuation lawyer has said.

The federal budget proposal that income generated from excess non-concessional contributions has to be refunded along with the contributions themselves will be difficult for SMSFs to comply with, according to some sector experts.

The announcement changing how the age pension applies to Australians contained in last week’s budget is likely to place even more importance on superannuation savings, according to an industry commentator.

Advisers may need to revise their clients’ pension strategies in the wake of the changes to the assessable income rules handed down in last week’s federal budget, an industry expert has said.

SMSFs are now one of the most significant savings vehicles in the country and are starting to have a telling impact on the Australian equities market, according to a senior analyst with an internationally-owned fund manager.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has expressed its concern as to whether individuals are establishing their SMSFs for the right reasons and uses.

The Self-managed Independent Superannuation Funds Association (SISFA) has refuted recent claims from certain quarters of the industry that there is systemic risk involved with the SMSF sector.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) has cautioned its members who are registered SMSF auditors to fulfil their additional educational requirements before the annual renewal of this registration.

AMP Capital made two of its existing managed funds available to SMSF investors with a view to provide greater diversification in their property and cash, or defensive, portfolio allocations.