Peter Burgess

In recognition of the profession’s importance to the sector, the SMSF Association’s annual SMSF Audit Day is back, once again tackling the pressing challenges auditors face in today’s rapidly changing regulatory and legislative environment.

The one-day virtual event on 3 September will focus on equipping auditors with the essential tools and insights needed to enhance the overall quality and integrity of SMSF audits.

SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess says: “Our SMSF Audit Day is designed to ensure SMSF auditors possess the critical knowledge and skills needed to thrive in today’s complex environment.

What truly sets our event apart is its inclusive approach, catering to all SMSF professionals. This event presents an opportunity to foster effective collaboration between auditors and other SMSF experts, to ensure the annual audit process is seamless and efficient.”

“By addressing common audit challenges and exploring the future of SMSF auditing, this event offers invaluable insights to help auditors remain compliant and deliver value to their clients.”

The program kicks off with a session from Marjon Muizer, Founder of Red Willow Super, on common SMSF audit misconceptions. The session will highlight frequent errors and offer practical solutions to enhance compliance with audit standards.

Shelley Banton, Head of Technical at ASF Audits, will tackle the complexities of asset titles in SMSF audits, providing clear guidance on legal requirements and best practices to ensure compliance and protect fund members’ interests.

Con Gotsis, Director at Guardian Assurance, will then address the challenges of auditing related party transactions, offering insights into key issues such as non-arm’s length income and related party acquisitions.

In her session on auditing SMSF death benefits, Shirley Schaefer, Partner of Superannuation at BDO, will demystify this complex area by highlighting essential audit areas, common pitfalls and what constitutes sufficient audit evidence, complemented by a practical checklist to ensure thorough and compliant audit files.

Looking to the future, Jacob Kewley, Director at Tactical Super, will discuss the impact of the proposed Division 296 changes and the anticipated regulatory scrutiny on high-balance funds. He’ll offer strategies for navigating these changes, managing risks, and adapting to new asset types.

Finally, Bryce Figot, Special Counsel at DBA Lawyers, will share proven tips and traps for SMSF auditors facing ATO and ASIC audits. His session will provide practical advice on how best to handle a review or audit from a Regulator, ensuring compliance and safeguarding professional standing.

Burgess concludes: “SMSF Audit Day transcends being a mere technical event; it represents a strategic investment in your profession, ensuring client satisfaction and long-term retention. By attending, you position yourself at the forefront of audit issues, ready to navigate and thrive in the complex and ever-changing SMSF landscape.”

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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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John Maroney

Allens partner and superannuation law expert Michelle Levy, who is heading the Quality of Advice Review with Treasury, will join a panel dissecting Quality of Advice at the SMSF Association Technical Summit being held on 27-28 July on the Gold Coast.

Levy will be one of five speakers on the Breakfast Panel discussing the topic, “Quality of Advice – A new horizon”. The other speakers will be BT Financial Group Head of Financial Literacy & Advocacy, Bryan Ashenden, FPA Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Abood, AFCA Acting Leading Ombudsman, Investments and Advice, Shail Singh, and Institute of Public Accountants Group Executive, Advocacy & Policy, Vicki Stylianou.

SMSF Association CEO John Maroney says: “The panel will examine what the quality and affordability of advice will look like in the future. It will also provide an opportunity for the industry to collaborate on proposed practical solutions to remove complexity and lower costs.”

One session certain to attract strong attention will focus on how advisers can take better care of their mental health and emotional well-being.

To be run by Artemis Investments Director Philippa Hunt, this session takes on special relevance for many delegates in the wake of a recent survey of 700 financial advisers that showed more than 50% of respondents had suffered a significant decline in their mental health since the Royal Commission and subsequent legislation.

Maroney says: “The survey returned quantitative results and anecdotal evidence of widespread issues with mental health across the industry.  This session will identify aspects of mental health and emotional well-being, how to recognise undue stress and when to take action to alleviate it. “

Another session with three SMSF specialists will use a case study to bring to life the “superannuation life cycle” of a professional surfer, from setting up her SMSF in her 20s to her final wipe-out in her late 70s.

SuperConcepts’ Graeme Colley will be the session narrator and client adviser whose decisions and documentation will be critically reviewed by the fund auditor, ASF Audits’ Shelley Banton. The third actor in this compelling drama will be the client’s lawyer, Coleman Greig Lawyers’ Peter Bobbin, who will provide a risk management overlay from both a client and adviser perspective.

“We’re always looking for fresh ways to give the sessions ‘a practical bent’ by creating life-like client situations to make them more compelling listening as well as stimulating delegate participation.

“With this session I believe the organisers have scored the perfect 10 by offering a documented history of a female surfer’s super life cycle, beginning with a ripple then moving on to a gnarly ride before she rides off into the sunset.

“It’s a case study that will consider the importance of documentation from different perspectives, including the client, accountant, auditor and lawyer, as delegates follow her wild ride from setting up the fund to admitting new members to the ongoing acceptance of the annual fund accounts and its final winding up.”

Cryptocurrencies will also come under the spotlight with ATO statistics showing this asset comprised $226 million of SMSF assets at 31 March 2022. RSM Director Katie Timms and Associate Director Tracey Dunn will explain the basics of blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital assets, the taxation treatment of digital assets, and sole purpose test considerations with non-fungible tokens and crypto wallets.

Register for the event.

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Shelley Banton

Although a self-managed super fund (SMSF) investment strategy is not an advice document, advisers must ensure that it has not been interpreted as advice, Adam Goldstien, a financial adviser with the financial planning firm Skeggs Goldstien, told the SMSF Association 2021 National Conference.

In his session titled “The rise and rise of compliant SMSF investment strategies: Why it’s more important than ever”, he emphasised that this document must be “trustee driven”, with the role of the adviser to ensure trustees comply with the rules by “guiding, directing and leading them”.

It was one of the most watched sessions at the National Conference, with Goldstien co-presenting with Nicholas Ali, Executive Manager, SMSF Technical Support at SuperConcepts, and Shelley Banton, Head of Education, ASF Audits. The session’s underlying theme was the importance of tailoring an investment strategy to a fund’s circumstances and the need for trustees to be able to demonstrate that they have considered all the relevant requirements.

Goldstien said: “Investment strategies are not a plan; they’re a strategy. The document should be no more than four to five pages and ideally include an introduction that explains the purpose of the document, a section on the fund’s profile (which helps to link the strategy back to the fund’s unique circumstance), and sections on the investment objectives and investment strategy.

“It should incorporate the trustee’s best answers, using their words, to questions about risk, diversification, liquidity, liabilities and insurance. There should also be a section that explains when the strategy should be reviewed.”

The importance of formulating an investment strategy came to the fore last year when the ATO released new guidelines on what should be included in an SMSF investment strategy. This followed an ATO mailout to more than 17,000 trustees in 2019 who, according to the regulator’s records, had 90 per cent or more invested in a single asset or asset class – hence the aptly titled session, “The rise and rise of compliant SMSF investment strategies”.

Goldstien said: “Asking trustees a series of ‘what if’ questions is a good way to assist them to properly consider things such as liquidity, diversification and risk.

“The adviser also has an important role to play in educating trustees on how to properly formulate and implement an investment strategy. Trustees should be encouraged to reference sections of their trust deed in their investment strategy to demonstrate they’ve considered the circumstances of the fund.”

Ali reminded delegates that investment choice did not override the trustee legislative requirements and Banton explained that COVID-19 was no excuse for not complying with the asset ranges stated in a strategy. “It’s acceptable for trustees to put in place a short-term strategy if they find themselves in a difficult situation, but it must be documented,” she said.

Shelley also explained that although it was not necessary to have asset ranges in an investment strategy, just saying the fund can invest in cash and other assets is insufficient. “All material assets should be listed, and the trustees should be able to explain how investing in those assets will achieve the fund members’ retirement goals.”

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