Peter Burgess

The more than 350 SMSF professionals who attended the two-day SMSF Association Technical Summit in Sydney this week went away armed with comprehensive strategies and enhanced industry knowledge to take back to their clients.

The Summit, which brought together recognised industry leaders to address delegates in keynote and technical sessions as well as practical workshops, again demonstrated why it is one of the premier technical events on the SMSF calendar.

SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess said the strong numbers, in person and online, were a testimony to the importance SMSF specialists placed on maintaining the highest industry standards.

“Considering our superannuation sector is riddled with complex law, active regulators, shifting legislative changes and trustees with unmet advice needs, there is a tremendous opportunity for firms with specialised knowledge to make a difference – and this Summit is integral to this.

“It’s why all sessions and workshops were highly technical and targeted to engage SMSF specialists with a thirst to be the best. Attendees were highly engaged, with the many questions asked indicative that even the most experienced SMSF professionals had more to learn.

“Whether it was Professor Melinda Edwards, Managing Director at Ethics Advisory Services, addressing the future impact of AI in financial services or Shelley Banton, the Head of Education at ASF Audits, on the intricacies of accurately valuing SMSF assets, delegates accessed the best thinking on such issues in a thought-provoking way that can only add value to their businesses.”

Burgess said it was extremely heartening to hear Investment Trends Head of Research Irene Guiamatsia inform attendees how SMSF specialists – defined as a practice with more than 20 SMSF clients – had increased their profitability over the past year.

“Investment Trends’ research demonstrated that specialists had gained from increasing their initial upfront fees to clients and not using them as a loss leader to be recouped later.

“She said that on a net basis all SMSF advisers seemed to have seen more of a revenue increase than decrease, but it was much more positive for SMSF specialists.

“This evidence from a respected research house goes to the core of the Association’s argument that SMSF specialisation reaps commercial and professional benefits.”

Burgess said other sessions that captured the delegates’ attention were the workshop presented by Craig Day (Head of Technical Services, Colonial First State) and Linda Bruce (Senior Technical Manager, Colonial First State) who examined planning and managing personal injury, temporary or permanent, when the unexpected happened.

“Jemma Sanderson (Director, Cooper Partners Financial Services) focused on live cases to understand how best to manage the smooth wealth management and succession planning within blended families.”

The Summit concluded with Cooper Grace Ward partner and SMSF Association chair, Scott Hay-Bartlem, presenting a captivating session on what SMSF professionals should be doing during the death benefit planning stage to manage conflicts and ensure nominated beneficiaries receive their intended benefits in the most tax effective manner

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When the downsizing bill was announced in the May 2017 Federal Budget, it was understood that only current homes could be eligible.  However, the Government has since broadened its scope to include an individual’s former home.

Linda Bruce, Senior Technical Services Manager at IOOF said: “This is an exciting development from a financial planning perspective, as it means downsizer contributions can potentially be used by a much larger group of clients than was initially thought.”

IOOF Technical Services has developed briefing tools which detail eligibility requirements under the proposed bill, and offer insights to guide its stable of approximately 1 000 advisers operating under licenses with Lonsdale, Bridges, Ord Minnett, Consultum and Shadforth.

Ms Bruce concluded, “With the right advice, the proposed bill offers a fantastic opportunity for older Australians to boost their retirement fund when selling their home.  It is crucial that advisers understand the broadened eligibility requirements to ensure their clients benefit from these incoming changes”.

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