Almost one-third of SMSF trustees are reporting regulatory uncertainty as one of the most difficult aspects of running their super fund, which is also noted by the accounting community as a significant issue in administering funds and giving accurate advice.
The 2017 Vanguard and Investment Trends SMSF Report revealed that 31 per cent of SMSFs were concerned by regulatory uncertainty, with an identical number struggling to choose what to invest in.
With the raft of super regulatory changes effective this year, SMSF trustees with assets totalling more than $2.5 million were most concerned, with 82 per cent worried, while 73 per cent of SMSFs with less than $500,000 also expressed concern.
“When you have so much volatility and uncertainty you would expect that this would be one of the hardest things with an SMSF,” said Investment Trends research director Recep III Peker.
“Although the number of SMSFs continues to grow each year, the rate of growth has slowed over the last four years.
“While there was some concern among SMSF trustees about these changes, they seem to have largely remained informed about the implications, and the large increase in SMSF assets could be in part attributed to SMSFs taking advantage of higher caps prior to 1 July this year.”
Superannuation reform has been particularly problematic for accountants, particularly in the lead up to end of financial year this year.
Prior to June 30, Hayes Knight director and chair of Knowledge Shop told Accountants Daily there was a considerable spike in the number of queries related to SMSFs, with particular sore spots being in relation to capital gains tax, transition to retirement and contributions.
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