The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has targeted property spruikers posing as financial advisors in its address at the annual conference for SMSF professionals.
According to ASIC, there has been an increase in promoters recommending that investors use SMSFs to invest in property. This included real estate agents and property advisers.
ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer says these promoters may not be complying with the law, by giving advice without an Australian Financial Services licence.
“We do not want the SMSF sector to become the target of property spruikers,” Tanzer said in his address to the SPAA conference.
Tanzer said that the key message he wanted SMSF investors to take away was that undertaking an investment property is a decision far too important for your future to be “taken in by a glitzy presentation”.
The message comes as part of a wider ASIC crackdown on insufficient financial advice, following a study released in April last year entitled SMSFs: Improving the quality of advice given to investors.