After years of declining membership bases and growing frustration with disparate representation, 96.5 per cent of AFA members and 96.7 per cent of FPA members voted in favour of a merger between the two groups.
Peter Burgess told the SMSF Association’s National Conference the industry group has pushed for some of the developments, while it continues to oppose others, such as a high-balance cap. The government now plans instead to double the tax rate for funds with very high balances.
The success and popularity of SMSFs has also given several hundred thousand people direct access to their retirement savings. More concerning, the ATO believes, is that fraudsters are starting to take notice.
Despite a growth hiccup in 2022 the SMSF sector is trending in the right direction, with more younger people opting for choice in the way they manage their retirement savings.
Lending specialist Daniel Zwirn spoke candidly about investor “credit myths”, and the misunderstandings that hold people back in the selection and movement of assets in portfolio construction.
While commodities proved a safe haven for investors in a brutal 2022, completing a rare two-year run at the top of the asset class returns table, Atchison consultant Kevin Toohey warns against expecting a repeat performance.
The shift to healthy longer term deposits has begun, and while Australian equities still dominate SMSF portfolios the way they access them is changing.
In Levy’s new world, conflicts and vertical integration are likely to be accommodated by a new statutory best interests duty with a broader scope and a lower, more flexible bar in an effort to bring advice to the masses.
In its latest sustainability report HMC details the kind of comprehensive ESG strategy typical of a fund manager that appreciates the value of corporate responsibility – both to the group’s three funds and the broader environment.
Levy made no major deviations in her final suite of proposals, with Treasury left to mull on a blueprint for reform that should usher in a less prescriptive, two-tiered advice regime. But there are a few tweaks that might raise eyebrows.
