According to statistics to be released this month by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the self-managed superannuation (SMSF) army is now one million members strong.
The ATO’s March quarterly report will reveal the one millionth member has jumped on board the SMSF boat, which is a strong increase from the 995,878 members recorded at 31 December, 2013.
Adrian Raftery, senior lecturer in Financial Planning & Superannuation at Deakin University, says this number “proves that SMSFs is a lot more than just a fad and that people do like the choice of what they can invest in, particularly if it is going to cost them half as much as leaving their money in a large APRA-regulated fund.”
“Superannuation, with its mandated employer contributions and SMSF segment, is the one true financial experiment being conducted in Australia that the rest of the world is watching.”
Paul Rickard from the Switzer Super Report also agrees that the flexibility and autonomy SMSFs allow have contributed to the ongoing increase in membership numbers. He also thinks some investors hold scepticism towards the way other fund managers operate.
“The growth in SMSFs shows that Australians want to control their own super monies – many don’t trust the fund managers, and others think that the fees are way too high,” says Rickard.