The SMSF service provider industry is large, diverse and flourishing, with firms extending their services away from traditional offerings in order to capture more opportunities, according to the latest Macquarie/SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) research.

The onerous and time-consuming nature of implementing key SMSF strategies and tasks means advisers need to look at maximising the use of automation to alleviate this burden and ensure efficient execution of these elements, according to a sector expert.

Audit software company Auditflow has forged a strategic partnership that will see its cloud-based auditing facility made available to users of SMSF accounting and administration software specialist BGL Corporate.

Advisers need to position themselves as running either a boutique business or one that takes advantage of significant scale, according to a succession planning expert.

Australian asset managers will continue to be attracted to the SMSF industry, but in order to compete successfully, they must ensure they can meet the market’s desire for low-cost tailored offerings, according to State Street.

SMSF investments in overseas shares and non-residential property will occur gradually as funds consider more sensible and suitable places to hold their assets, according to an analysis of Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data.

Specialist SMSF administration software provider Class Super has added an audit application to its offering.

The registration process has resulted in the number of SMSF auditors dropping significantly, but sector experts participating in a recent industry roundtable admitted they were anticipating a further reduction in the size of that group of professionals.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has launched a mobile phone application to provide SMSF trustees with information to help them operate their funds more effectively.