New super association aiming to launch next year
In abid to provide adequate education and professional standards for advisers specialising in the self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) industry, The Strategist Group is planning to establish an SMSF adviser association by early next year.
“There is an existing association that looks after the trustees of the funds, but there is no group that actually looks after SMSF advisers,” Strategist Group managing director Grant Abbott says.
“There are 250,000 funds out there and a lot of them are looked after by accountants or financial planners without the specialist knowledge. We wanted to start to raise the education standard of the industry, rather than have the tax office audit all the funds,” he says.
The association, expected to be called the Association of SMSF Advisers, has already established a working party to discuss possible structural issues.
Abbott says to accurately cover issues such as professional standards, research and education, he will look for guidance from associations already in existence.
He says the proposed new association will not in any way compete with either the Financial Planning Association (FPA) or Small Independent Superannuation Funds Association (SISFA).
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.
