You may be aware that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has issued letters to nearly 18,000 SMSF trustees as part of a campaign to ensure trustees are aware of their investment obligations. Of key concern is ensuring that trustees have considered diversification and liquidity of their assets when formulating and executing their fund’s investment strategy.…
October 10, 2019
Do’s and don’ts of SMSF property investment
Opinion piece written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Financial Review on 10 October 2019. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Are you considering SMSF property investment? Direct property is an investment that self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees are likely to consider at some stage. In fact, direct property investments make up about…
October 3, 2019
CEO Update | The Retirement Income Review
First published in October 2019. Hear the latest update regarding The Retirement Income Review from the SMSF Association CEO, John Maroney. In late September, the Treasurer announced a review into the retirement income system. This review was recommended by the Productivity Commission in its report ‘Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness’ and comes 27 years after…
September 24, 2019
Issue 3: Growth and income investing in your SMSF – one or the other or both?
Hello again and welcome to the third of our SMSF Connect Investment Series. I trust you are finding these to be of interest and I hope the discussions around cash flow and our most recent Cash- how much is enough in your SMSF to be useful. One of the most common requests received when I…
September 12, 2019
ATO gets tougher on SMSF investments
Opinion piece written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Financial Review on 12 September 2019. Licensed by Copyright Agency. The Australian Taxation Office has started to issue letters to nearly 18,000 self-managed super fund trustees and their auditors as part of a campaign to ensure trustees are aware of their investment obligations, particularly the need…
September 11, 2019
ATO scrutiny on SMSF Trustees re investment strategies
Content provided by LBD Group The ATO in September 2019 have written to 18,000 SMSF trustees where they believe the Fund holds more than 90% of its investments in a single asset or in a single asset class. They are concerned that the Trustee’s investment strategy may not be in compliance with the Superannuation legislation. …
September 5, 2019
Inverse yield curve
Content provided by Thinktank On 14 August, the three major US sharemarket indicators went into a tailspin; the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.1 per cent, the S&P 500 2.4 per cent and the Nasdaq three per cent. And the villain in all this market selling? The inverse yield curve. For Australian investors waking…
August 26, 2019
Issue 2: Cash – How much is enough in your SMSF?
Hello again, for those who read the first of our SMSF Connect Investment Series – The importance of cash flow in your SMSF, I hope it was useful. For the next in our series, we’re sticking with the cash theme and ask ‘Cash – how much is enough in your SMSF?’ SMSFs are often criticised…
August 22, 2019
Reflections from an investor
Content provided by Magellan Financial Group Written by Hamish Douglass, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Magellan Financial Group Insights gathered from years of investing include thoughts on how to find the right investments, how to let investments work for you, risk management and the best temperament to have when investing. However, as the prices of…
August 15, 2019
Beware transfer balance cap strategies when it comes to death benefits
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Australian Financial Review on 15 August 2019. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Maximising your $1.6 million pension cap may backfire on your beneficiaries.  Strategies to work around the $1.6 million transfer balance cap (TBC) may be useful for those in pension phase trying to maximise their…