SMSF industry told to brace for ‘interesting’ times ahead
With the royal commission report to be soon handed down, FASEA continuing to develop the adviser standards and an election only months away, the first six months of 2019 are shaping up to be an eventful time for the SMSF sector, says an industry consultant.
Speaking to SMSF Adviser, Smarter SMSF chief executive Aaron Dunn said that with the Productivity Commission making a number of recommendations for SMSF advice, specifically in its final report on superannuation, and the final report from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry to be released soon, it’s going to be “a very interesting first half of the year”.
The final report by the Productivity Commission was released by the Liberal-National government last week.
The report made a raft of recommendations for SMSF advice including a requirement to issue potential SMSF trustees with a red flags document, specialist training for SMSF advisers and extending the proposed product design and distribution obligations to SMSF establishment.
The final report of the royal commission is also due to be submitted to the Governor-General early next month.
In his interim report released in September, Justice Kenneth Hayne QC identified some initial concerns relating to best interest and certain types of conflicted remuneration that were grandfathered under the FOFA reforms.
“We’ve obviously also got a federal election coming up, and there are differences in policy around superannuation, so there is potential for further change,” Mr Dunn said.
“We don’t know yet how that will translate into practitioner land or what will evolve out of the royal commission.”
He noted that the Productivity Commission has also suggested that only professionals with the appropriate skills should be advising on SMSFs.
“I think things will look very different over the next few years,” Mr Dunn said.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
