Informed SMSF trustees conducive to advice
Educating self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustee members in order to make them better informed is more beneficial for advisers, according to the SMSF Association.
Chief executive and managing director, Andrea Slattery, told the association's technical conferences that the SMSF Association had developed a Trustee Knowledge Centre website that targeted SMSF trustees not using advice.
"As many of our members have said when their clients use the trustee education service, the fact they are more knowledgeable makes their job easier in providing genuine strategic advice," Slattery said.
Slattery added that the SMSF profession needed to be on the "front foot" in protecting consumers and boosting their professionalism, regardless of whether the SMSF specialists worked for a small independent advice firm or were at a corporate firm.
"There is a strong realisation across the multi-disciplinary professions that comprise the membership of the SMSF Association that they can't afford to wait for the government to say ‘enough is enough' and then legislate to protect consumers," she said.
"No one at these conferences was suggesting they did not need to do more in terms of professional development to further enhance their skill set."
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