The SMSF Association has labelled the Productivity Commission’s assessment of self-managed funds with balances below $1 million and those with very small asset bases as too simplistic and will be engaging with the government body on this issue as part of the next stage of the consultation process.

The federal government has backed down on its proposal to count outstanding limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loan balances against an SMSF member’s total super balance by making a key amendment to the measure.

Several industry associations have come together to form the Alliance for a Fairer Retirement System as a direct response to Labor’s proposal to disallow refunds of excess franking credits for a range of retirees and shareholders.

The corporate regulator’s recently completed assessment investigating unlicensed accountants recommending clients set up an SMSF has found no systemic concerns around the provision of unlicensed SMSF advice.

The federal government has announced it will propose to increase the limit on the maximum number of members in an SMSF from four to six. 

The banking royal commission has exposed the inadequacies of the SMSF advice industry, but should result in stronger enforcement of competency standards, an SMSF expert has said.