Showcasing the Education and ETF Provider winners at SMSF Awards 2021
SMSF Adviser has announced the winners of Education Provider and ETF Provider in this year’s SMSF Awards.
In the first round of award announcements for the 2021 SMSF Awards, SMSF Adviser can reveal that Accurium has won the award for Education Provider of the Year, while VanEck has won the best ETF provider category. Further showcases of the award winners will be announced this week.
SMSF Awards 2021
It has been another changing year for the SMSF sector as it moves past the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year and the resulting economic downturn.
This year has been a time of change for many in the SMSF sector, as super contribution thresholds change and a new era begins for the industry with the implementation of the auditor independence standards.
Superannuation has also seen greater focus on retirement outcomes as highlighted in this year’s array of federal budget changes. Furthermore, the ATO and the SMSF sector have continued to work tirelessly together to address some of the unforeseen issues arising from the current environment.
As always, SMSF professionals and their clients have relied heavily on SMSF service providers to guide them through this period of change. Partnering with firms that are adaptable and agile is critical at the moment and has a direct impact on the confidence and satisfaction of clients.
Now in its eighth year, the SMSF Awards recognises the excellence and innovation of the best-performing operators servicing SMSF professionals. The winners are based on a survey which was distributed to SMSF Adviser’s database of SMSF professionals. The results were collated and determined by an independent analyst.
SMSF EDUCATION PROVIDER WINNER: ACCURIUM
Highly commended: Heffron
An SMSF education provider provides innovative education platforms and events, technical leadership and specialist knowledge to those in the industry in addition to providing SMSF advice and services. This year’s inaugural award goes to Accurium for its leading technical education services shown across the year.
Doug McBirnie, general manager, Accurium
We are delighted to be awarded the inaugural award for Best Educator in the SMSF industry. Accurium is renowned as Australia’s leading actuarial certificate provider.
Further to this, over the last few years we have been expanding the support we provide our clients, particularly in the area of professional development and education. Thank you to all our clients for supporting us, and recognising those efforts and the work that we do as educators.
With many face-to-face events being cancelled over the last year, our clients have relied on Accurium’s online educational content to keep them up to date. In fact, in 2020–21, over 19,000 attendees participated in Accurium’s CPD-accredited webinars.
More than 3,500 SMSF firms are now subscribed to our online learning platform, the Accurium TechHub, and over 11,000 individual SMSF professionals are regularly engaging in our educational content. We are now one of the largest education providers in the industry, and these figures demonstrate why we are a trusted SMSF education partner.
We are certainly proud of those achievements, but I am excited to say that we are only just getting started. Technology is allowing us all to learn and engage in new ways and we are keen to explore new opportunities with our clients. We look forward to building on our foundations by launching a range of new educational opportunities in the coming year.
SMSF ETF PROVIDER WINNER: VAN ECK
Highly commended: BetaShares
ETFs have long been an important investment tool for providing diversification in SMSF portfolios. Remaining diversified in the current environment has never been more important, with the outcomes and impact of COVID on different sectors and economies remaining very uncertain. This year’s winner, VanEck, has a long history of providing innovative ETF products and has a strong focus on servicing SMSFs.
Arian Neiron, CEO and managing director – Asia Pacific, VanEck
We’re proud to be recognised as the winner of the ETF Provider category, especially as it is voted by SMSF Adviser readers. Firstly, I acknowledge our clients for their continued support. We aim to bring the best to clients’ portfolios.
As the Australian ETF market rapidly expands, VanEck has been the first to offer investors many innovative investment solutions, with full transparency. Our mantra is simple: access the opportunities. Our range of funds offers investors intelligently designed investment strategies that take advantage of targeted market opportunities.
VanEck now has 28 exchange traded products (ETPs) listed on the ASX, and more in the pipeline, and its assets under management have jumped almost 80 per cent in one year. We are expanding our team to respond to greater demand for our products as SMSFs and other investors turn to ETFs, necessitating their investments to work harder to create wealth in the face of ultra-low interest rates and sometimes unreliable returns from other managed funds.
As the industry has grown, the range of ETPs has increased from simple market capitalisation index-tracking ETFs to more complex managed funds. Through it all, our clients are at the heart of everything we do. We take our fiduciary responsibilities seriously to deliver intelligent and proven investment opportunities. This win is recognition of that. Thank you.
Tony Zhang
Tony Zhang is a journalist at Accountants Daily, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the accounting sector.
Since joining the Momentum Media team in 2020, Tony has written for a range of its publications including Lawyers Weekly, Adviser Innovation, ifa and SMSF Adviser. He has been full-time on Accountants Daily since September 2021.
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