Peter Townsend

Calls for reform in the self-managed super fund (SMSF) sector reflect an agenda by some parties that would see funds diversified to the industry or retail super sectors.

Townsends Business and Corporate Lawyers principal Peter Townsend pointed to the statistics released in the Cooper Review consultation paper, which stated that in 2009 only 99 of the 410,000 SMSFs in Australia were non-complying.

“Suggestions that the SMSF sector is in need of major overhaul are clearly unfounded,” he said, suggesting that those who were calling for reform had an agenda that would see funds diversified to the industry or retail super sectors.

Townsend said improvements could be made to the way SMSFs are managed, but this could only be achieved through education – not regulation.

He said the already small number of non-compliant funds could be reduced through education about the role of the trustee. Education would also address concerns about the early release of benefits to SMSF members, he said.

“Education of SMSF trustees should not attempt to turn them into superannuation specialists,” Townsend said. “It simply needs to encapsulate the basic parameters of self-managed superannuation, the reasons why super is granted tax concessional status and the need for [trustees] to ensure that the fund is achieving its goal for the good of their retirement lifestyle. That kind of education will be far more powerful than any externally imposed and costly system of further regulation.”