While the number of members in the majority of funds is between one and two, there may be many historical reasons for this; ranging from when fund was set up it was not possible to include younger family members to there being too many family members to fit within the maximum number of four at the time.

Now with the opportunity to increase the number of members there may be some solid reasons to do so including lower costs resulting from sharing of the fixed costs across a greater number of member balances, pooled balances leading to a greater spread of investment choice and some that are not directly related to the physical running of the funds such as increasing the engagement in superannuation and investing with younger members and improving administration and exit planning for older members.

However, as with many aspects of managing a SMSF and in particular the investments strategy, it is often a good idea to return to the basics of why a fund has been established.

So, let take a quick look at some things that you may wish to consider with regard to the investment objectives of your SMSF if you were to increase member numbers.