SMSFs up 20% since 2012

Are you among the over 1.1 million Australians running a self-managed super fund (SMSF)? You are not alone. According to the ATO, there were around 491,000 SMSFs in Australia in December 2012, compared to over 585,000 today -- an increase of almost 20% in the last 5 years. We have noticed the trend too, with 39% of Australians on an upgraded plan currently tracking an SMSF in Sharesight.

The ASX found that 30% of those not currently running an SMSF intend to do so in the future, with 13% planning to start their own SMSF within the next 12 months.

It costs very little to administer my SMSF and takes very little admin time. The bulk of my time is spent on deciding how to best invest the fund, as it should be.
Andrew Bird, Executive Director, Sharesight in How I manage my SMSF with Sharesight

Why do Australians establish SMSFs?

According to AMP Capital’s Black Sky Report (2017) the majority of SMSF investors (56%) established their SMSF to have more control over their investments. Believing existing superannuation options gave them insufficient control over factors such as portfolio asset allocation, or aligned poorly with their individual appetite for risk.

Moreover, 32% of SMSF investors established their SMSF to choose specific shares to invest in. These very engaged investors could benefit from using an unbundled SMSF solution.

How can Sharesight help you manage your SMSF?

There are four key problems SMSF investors need to solve to manage their SMSF using an ‘unbundled’ solution.

• Execution: The actual buy/sell transactions that an SMSF needs to undertake when investing (typically through a broker such as Sharesight partner CMC markets)
• Accounting: Ensuring compliance with SMSF legislation through a registered accountant and/or SMSF solutions built around Xero
• Research: Choosing shares, funds, or other investments based on your investment priorities (the part you will probably spend the most time on)
• Portfolio tracking: Which is where Sharesight can save you time and money, automatically recording the data you need, and reducing the time you or your accountant need to spend on administration tasks. Letting you focus your time and money on the actual investing of your SMSF

We maintain one portfolio in Sharesight for the SMSF. The allocation to the member accounts is done in Xero at year end. From an investment point of view, it is treated as one portfolio with one investment strategy.
Andrew Bird, Executive Director, Sharesight in How I manage my SMSF with Sharesight

Sign up for Sharesight today and unbundle your SMSF solution.

FURTHER READING

• How I manage my SMSF with Sharesight
• I’m starting an SMSF. How can I make share investing most cost-efficient?
• Sharesight + Xero