Making the assigned registration number of SMSF auditors available to the public on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) Connect website has created an opportunity for the misuse of this information.

A prudential regulator like the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is not required for the SMSF sector, nor is it the role the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is currently playing, according to a panel of industry experts.

The imminent federal government measure banning off-market transfers is going to significantly change the way advisers and SMSF trustees contribute listed security assets into their fund and will bring substantial challenges, writes KRYSTINE LUMANTA.

Henderson Maxwell chief executive Sam Henderson has launched his third financial planning book, called The One Page Financial Plan, aimed at helping individuals get the most out of the financial advice they seek to operate an SMSF.

The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) and the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) have put in place a collaborative agreement that will see the two bodies working together to cover off specific areas of the SMSF sector.

The number of SMSFs employing limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) to acquire property has noticeably increased in the past few months as investors begin to rebalance their portfolios towards growth assets, according to an industry platform provider.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will focus a large part of its compliance activity on loans within SMSFs in the 2014 financial year.

An Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) examination into the quality of financial advice provided to SMSF trustees has found the majority of it to be of an adequate level. The “SMSFs: Improving the quality of advice given to investors” report revealed 70.3 per cent of personal advice files provided “adequate” advice, though there were […]

Advisers looking to service SMSF clients need to understand why these individuals are not engaged in the financial advice process before they can expect to make any progress to this end, according to the head of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA).