SMSF trustees wanting to hold risk cover, such as total and permanent disablement (TPD) insurance, containing own-occupation definitions need to act now before new rules governing the sector come into effect on 1 July, according to a specialist legal practitioner.

The scale of SMSF businesses will be a key catalyst as to whether their accountants and advisers choose to run annual or daily administration services or both.

The new reporting requirements for unallocated concessional contributions received by an SMSF in June will increase the amount of administration required for individuals looking to manage their own retirement savings, according to Heffron SMSF Solutions.

AMP SMSF Administration managing director Andrew Hamilton is set to leave the financial services organisation in July.

The new indexed contributions levels recently announced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will better facilitate in-specie transfers of commercial property into an SMSF for the 2015 financial year, according to Gadens Lawyers.

SMSF trustees’ portfolio allocations to international equities have increased recently, but still remain low in comparison to their investments in other asset classes, according to Insync Fund Managers.

Accountants looking to acquire a limited Australian financial services licence (AFSL) to keep servicing SMSF clients need to be aware of the capacity constraints licensees will encounter as the 1 July 2016 deadline approaches, according to Count Financial chief executive David Lane.

Australian software company eAuthority is set to launch a beta release of its SMSF bank account verification service to make rollovers of retirement savings balances from Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated funds easier.

Commercial property is an asset class currently providing good investment opportunities for SMSFs, but it is still largely being overlooked by fund trustees, according to Australian Unity Real Estate Investment.