1 in 5 SMSFs consider winding up fund
Around one in five SMSFs have considered winding up their SMSF in the past 12 months and moving to either a retail or industry fund, according to a recent research report.
The latest Vanguard/Investment Trends SMSF Report, based on the responses from almost 5,000 SMSF trustees, indicates that in the past 12 months, 17 per cent of SMSFs have considered closing their fund and moving to an industry fund and 3 per cent have considered moving to a retail super fund.
According to the report, the proportion of SMSFs looking to move to an APRA-regulated fund has jumped substantially since 2013, when just 4 per cent of SMSFs were considering moving to an industry super fund and 2 per cent to a retail super fund.
Based on some of the verbal responses, Investment Trends chief executive Michael Blomfield said some of the key reasons around this were cost and the time required for managing the fund.
“In some cases, it’s costing more than they thought it would cost, it’s taking more of their time than they thought it would take, and perhaps they’re busier than they thought they would be,” Mr Blomfield said.
“There are also some people who’ve received poor advice on investment strategies or they’ve made poor investment decisions themselves.”
The report stated that 15 per cent of respondents said that managing their SMSF is more time-consuming than they expected.
Despite the advancements in technology, it also shows that the amount of time spent running an SMSF has not decreased. The number of hours spent running the fund per month has actually increased slightly from 7.6 hours a month in 2011 to eight hours a month in 2019.
Keeping up to date with legislative regulations and ongoing monitoring and reporting are the two areas requiring greater time, according to the report.
The most challenging aspects of running an SMSF, the report said, were choosing what to invest in and keeping track of changes in rules and regulations.
Investment Trends senior analyst King Loong Choi noted that while one in five SMSFs have thought about closing their fund and moving to an APRA-regulated fund, the number of SMSF trustees who are actually winding up their funds is much lower than this.
The ATO statistics on SMSF wind-ups for the 2017–18 financial year indicate there were approximately 20,430 wind-ups across a total of 584,802 funds.
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.
