Peter Burgess

The SMSF Association has lauded the Federal Government’s decision to fast track the implementation of a legacy pension amnesty.

SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess says this is an early Christmas gift for over 17,000 SMSF legacy pension accounts that now have five years to commute their pension and take advantage of a flexible pathway to allocate associated reserve amounts.

“These newly registered regulations – Treasury Laws Amendment (Legacy Retirement Product Commutations and Reserves) Regulations 2024 – provide much-needed reform to retirees trapped in non-commutable legacy pensions, including legacy lifetime, life expectancy and market-linked income stream products.

“Considering the age of these superannuants, they now have a genuine opportunity to restructure their retirement savings effectively.”

Burgess says the decision to grant this amnesty is a tribute to the Association’s persistent lobbying on this issue over the past five years.

“These regulations represent a big win for the sector and the Association’s advocacy team, especially the decision to be make it a standalone policy priority and not be linked to other tax policies such as the proposed Division 296 tax.”

He says that while these regulations are a welcomed development, there is a lingering sense that some opportunities to further enhance the regulatory framework surrounding this measure may have been missed.

“In our submission on the draft regulations, we noted it was common practice for legacy pensions to cease rather than be commuted on the death of the primary beneficiary or on the completion of the payment term.

“We encouraged Treasury to consider the inclusion of an additional cap-free pathway to allow a pension reserve to be exited from the system where the pension recipient(s) has died.

“Unfortunately, this was not heeded so it appears an opportunity has been lost to quickly and efficiently eliminate these potentially large reserves.”

He adds that the Association also flagged the potential social security ramifications emanating from the regulatory changes.

“Notwithstanding industry’s recommendations for Treasury to work with the Department of Social Services to ensure these concerns were addressed, at this stage we’re not aware of any social security legislative instruments, or other supporting materials, that serve to alleviate any of these concerns.

“While we understand a legislative instrument to remove the social security ramifications is likely, without further clarification or developments on this front, concerns still linger that social security sensitive members may be negatively impacted by this recent development.”

These regulations, along with all other key legislative changes from 2024 impacting SMSFs, will be a feature of the SMSF Association National Conference 2025 next February. Held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 19 – 21 February, attendees will hear the latest updates in depth from the experts.

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Peter Burgess

The SMSF Association says the framework outlined in the second tranche of the Government’s Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reform package lays the groundwork for reducing the cost and improving access to advice, but as is often the case, the devil will be in the detail.

The Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, announced the package yesterday, stating it would ensure more Australians would have access to quality and affordable financial advice.

SMSF Association CEO, Peter Burgess, said there can be no argument reforms are needed to reduce the cost of advice and to open up new channels of professional advice to support the 15,500 existing financial advisers servicing the community’s financial advice needs.

“We have consistently argued that these new channels are urgently needed to enable more individuals to access quality advice to improve both their financial and mental well-being.

“Meeting this need has become even more evident when the growing number of baby boomers entering retirement is considered – many of whom cannot currently afford to get advice.”

Burgess said that considering the Government’s focus on creating a new class of adviser to provide safe and simple advice, it remains a mystery to us why the role other professional advisers, such as accountants, could play was still being overlooked.

“It was our contention that the Quality of Advice Review neglected the significant role accountants can play in addressing the growing advice gap, and the Government is perpetuating this oversight.

“By giving accountants a defined advice role, it will further support consumers to access the advice they need when they want it from their choice of trusted adviser.”

He said new educational pathways were needed to not only ensure the sustainability of the financial planning sector, but to ensure the future financial advice needs of all Australians could be met.

“The success of this model will depend on ensuring that the education requirements for the new class of adviser truly provides a pathway to becoming a financial adviser.

“We welcome the opportunity for all AFS licensees to employ the ‘new class’ of adviser and support more individuals on their pathway into a rewarding and fulfilling career.”

He added that many consumers needed point in time advice, often driven by life events, so modernising the best interest duty provided certainty to the sector that they could meet this need by providing advice on a single topic or limited scope of advice.

Burgess said the professionalism that now characterised the advice sector was a credit to its practitioners, providing the foundation for the sector to now expand so that it could meet the advice needs of a growing number of Australians in an affordable way.

“The Association looks forward to working with the Government to ensure the right balance between opening up advice to more Australians is achieved without surrendering important consumer protections.”

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Peter Burgess

The self managed super fund (SMSF) sector has notched up a significant milestone following the release of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) September 2024 quarter SMSF statistics which show total SMSFs assets have surpassed $1 trillion for the first time.

SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess hailed the ATO’s quarterly statistics as a landmark achievement for the sector, noting that while the figures are estimates, they underscore the confidence Australians place in SMSFs. As at 30 September 2024, Australians have entrusted approximately $1.02 trillion of their retirement savings to SMSFs – a powerful testament to the value of “choice” and the benefits of SMSFs.

“SMSFs can provide the ultimate level of control and flexibility which in-turn empowers and encourages greater level of engagement.”

“This extra flexibility and control can manifest itself in many ways including investment flexibility, estate planning flexibility and the ability to structure the fund in a way which best suits the needs of fund members.”

“It’s always been the Association’s mantra that SMSFs are not for everyone. But for those individuals who want to take direct control of their retirement savings, whether in the accumulation or decumulation phase of superannuation, they have proved a very effective vehicle.

Burgess said the sector had thrived despite a long-running campaign that asserted SMSFs were costly, complicated, and delivered lower investment returns compared with their APRA-regulated counterparts.

“These were criticisms that the sector – and the Association – took extremely seriously, so it was gratifying when research commissioned by the SMSF Association showed that an SMSF with net assets of $200,000 can be competitive in terms of costs and investment returns compared with APRA funds.”

Burgess said the Association was proud of the sector’s remarkable evolution, noting the concept of small, member-controlled superannuation funds emerged in 1985 under the term ‘excluded funds’ before SMSFs were introduced in 1999 alongside a more comprehensive regulatory framework.

“Over nearly four decades we have seen the emergence of a dedicated cohort of advisers who have played a critical role in guiding SMSF members through their own unique superannuation journey. The fact that every inquiry into superannuation has given our sector a clean bill of health is testimony to the professionalism they bring when advising their clients.”

This significant milestone will be celebrated at the SMSF Association’s 2025 National Conference, being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from February 19 -21, where the theme, ‘Collaboration: Unleashing Collective Potential,’ will highlight the importance of working together to explore and shape what the future holds for the sector.

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Launching on 3 June, CleverSuper is also seeking to deliver more client value to existing SMSF trustees by reducing running costs, alleviating administration pressures, providing access to no-cost investment advice and offering day-to-day support for trustees.

As part of the launch of the platform, the founders have issued a call for 250 advisers to join CleverSuper as Founding Partners.

Founder Chris Appleyard said CleverSuper will reduce costs for the industry and founding associate partners can receive the benefits of free client referrals.

“CleverSuper has been designed for Australians by the industry, for the industry.  Our goal is to provide accessibility and choice for both the trustees and their financial advisers. CleverSuper provides virtually unlimited investment choice in any category.  Investors can link their SMSF account to any other financial provider and will have direct connections to banks and trading platforms, via our dedicated marketplace.” 

“Individual fund set up, full SMSF administration, free transfer and annual audit are all included in the monthly fee capped at $79 per month, regardless of which asset classes are inside the fund.   Our Australian-based call and processing center is supported by a 24/7 online and mobile ‘netbank’, solution, providing piece of mind for advisers and their clients.”

Mr Appleyard said that a free statement of advice offered to members would deliver benefits for the industry. 

“We believe that by offering a level of free access to financial advisors, SMSF investors will see the value of advice, without being out of pocket, which will increase SMSF trustee engagement with advisers.  It will also give advisers access to a new and growing group of active investors who are not currently engaged with an adviser.”

Mr Appleyard said that CleverSuper has been designed to add value for advisers looking after their Clients funds and investment strategies with opportunities for higher level system access into clients accounts and individual fee for service client arrangements.

“Founding referral partners will receive new business leads generated by CleverSuper within their primary and secondary postcode.  There are no referral fees, just a shared commitment to deliver more value and choice to our valued clients.   CleverSuper also offers free set-up and discounted rates on the establishment of corporate trusts.  It also provides annual audit and tax returns included in the monthly fee.

“By offering these essential services to the SMSF trustee, it frees up the accountant or adviser to focus on more important value-adding activities. It allows service provides to achieve better economies of scale and add more SMSF trustees to their client list,” Mr Appleyard said.

“With $1.3 trillion currently on the collective balance sheet, the opportunities for new business inside self managed super funds has never made more sense or been more accessible than with CleverSuper, which has been designed by the Australian industry for the Australian industry,” Appleyard said.

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