Name: Jo Heighway
Age: 36
Members: My SMSF has four members including my spouse and parents. I have 3 children who aren’t members of the fund
Where do you live?
Gold Coast QLD
How long have you had your SMSF?
12 years
How big is it?
$400-$500,000
Why did you start it up?
To invest in commercial property leased to my business at the time
Is it more or less difficult to manage than you thought it would be?
I love having my own SMSF. It’s great to have control over your family’s retirement savings and it makes me more active in putting away extra money whenever possible for my future. The admin can be time consuming, and its’ important that investment decisions are happening regularly. But well worth the extra effort to know I have control over where my super is invested.
How has it performed?
Performance for 2013 calendar year was 15.70%
What is your asset allocation?
Asset allocation is 56% growth and 44% defensive assets – all in all this is a balanced risk profile. The current portfolio generates a gross yield (incl. franking credits) of 5.9% pa. I believe the yield is important, especially if your fund is paying pensions (my parents are members and currently taking transition to retirement pensions).
The breakdown is as follows:
- 46% Australian equities (higher profile due to higher yield and franking credits on offer from Aussie companies).
- 4% International equities (this is a bit low at the moment but note that many Aussie companies have exposure to overseas markets/ operation internationally).
- 6% Listed property (typically pays a high yield and using property companies listed on the stock exchange (ASX) provides liquidity, easy to exit/sell whereas there are still property funds floating around which are frozen).
- 36% Fixed interest (includes term deposits and capital notes/preference shares which for compensation for the higher risk profile pay a higher income than term deposits).
- 8% Cash (have recently sold into strength to ensure we have funds available to take advantage of any potential stock-market weakness)
What are your favourite investments/stocks and why?
Favourite investments have been high-yielding blue chip companies- ANZ, NAB, Telstra, Westpac, Woolworths and Woodside Petroleum.
Also Ardent Leisure stock has more than doubled since buying in November 2012.
Do you use an advisor or any kind of service provider?
I use an adviser who is at Morgans Financial. The benefits include award-winning research, ease of management with complete portfolio management service and access to corporate offers – new issues/ IPOs – such as Burson Group IPO and capital notes/ preference shares in ANZ, NAB, Bank of Queensland and Suncorp. I prepare the financial records myself but of course use an independent specialist SMSF auditor annually.
What investments do you have outside of superannuation?
Mainly just term deposits and my business interests. I have recently bought a new home on the Gold Coast and I am focusing most of my spare cash on repaying the mortgage as fast as possible.
Important: This content has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. It does not constitute formal advice. Consider the appropriateness of the information in regards to your circumstances.
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