Financial planning firms must use new communication methods to ensure they stay front of mind with SMSF clients, particularly the younger generations, who are digitally savvy, do their research and are instantaneous in their behaviour.

Industry research specialist CoreData, in conjunction with selfmanagedsuper, hosted the third annual SMSF Service Provider Awards in Sydney on Thursday evening, recognising the best market participants determined by financial advisers and accountants.

Independent financial planning and accounting firm GPS Wealth has unveiled a free online application that allows accountants to accurately determine the appropriate licensing solution for them in just 60 seconds.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has declared its intentions to process any licensing applications from accountants before 1 March 2016 in the most timely manner possible.

The ATO had so far applied its new administration penalty powers for SMSF compliance breaches in a moderate and conciliatory manner, according to a lawyer.

Recent Investment Trends research into the accounting profession revealed practitioners considering obtaining a limited Australian financial services licence (AFSL) still felt more support was needed in the decision-making process.

Supercorp’s front-end portal, ViewSuper, has created strong engagement between advisers and SMSF trustees since its release in May.

Legal document provider Topdocs has partnered with BGL Corporate Solutions to launch a time-saving feature, with further streamlining planned for the future.

The issue of whether SMSFs can receive United Kingdom pension rollovers has taken a positive turn, with the latest release of the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) list including one self-managed fund.