What is an SMSF?

They have become very popular with more than 500,000 SMSFs now operating for 1 million Australian members.

The key reason for this popularity is control. With the Fund members also being the trustees, or trustee Company directors, they can:

• Choose their own investment strategy and so determine the types of investments as well as the timing of purchases & sales and subsequent capital gains tax
• Invest in a wider variety of asset classes including direct property with the ability to borrow using limited recourse lending arrangements

• Upon meeting a condition of release, maintain their member benefits with greater agility & responsiveness by being able to segregate members benefits, enter/exit pension phase swiftly, maintain Fund reserves for benefit payment, and maintain multiple member accounts for ‘taxed’ balance management
• Keep abreast of their Fund performance & issues as they arise by being engaged in the Fund administration rather than looking up reports & results after they happen
• Monitor & control the costs of Fund administration with ATO statistics showing an average operating costs ratio of 0.56% in 2012 after falling 4 straight years