The self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) segment may have been the fastest-growing area of the superannuation industry over the past decade, but it is destined to decline as a percentage of assets under management over the next 15 years, according to a new analysis released by actuarial firm Rice Warner.
According to the Rice Warner analysis, the SMSF segment grew from 30.9 per cent to 31.9 per cent over the past 12 months, but was likely to gradually decline to 22 per cent due in part to the current generation of retirees dying off.
Rice Warner said the decline in SMSFs would be owed to lower sizes of newly formed plans, contribution caps and the winding up of plans as the current generation of retirees in such arrangements die.
Indeed, the Rice Warner analysis suggested that the number of SMSFs might have reached its peak in Australia, forecasting a decline to 26.6 per cent in five years time and then to 21.7 per cent in 2025.
Commenting on events in the superannuation industry over the past 12 months, the Rice Warner analysis said that aside from the impact of the Future of Financial Advice reforms and the implications of the Cooper Review, there had been a continuation of fund mergers driven by a desire to generate scale.
