ATO to monitor SMSF performance

The Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, Senator Nick Sherry, has moved to ensure that the performance of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) is monitored in the same manner as other superannuation entities.

Sherry told the national conference of the Superannuation Professionals' Association of Australia in Adelaide that, unlike other superannuation funds, there was as yet no available data on the long-term investment performance of the SMSF sector.

Describing the absence of that data as “a vital weakness in the data set”, he said that, accordingly, he had asked the Australian Taxation Office, which regulates the sector, to start collecting the information.

“Once this is in place, and with the publication of data on the long-term performance of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority-regulated funds later this year, we will, for the first time, have long-term performance data across the whole system in the public domain,” Senator Sherry said.

At the same time, the minister once again raised concerns about the use of debt instruments, such as installment warrants, in super funds.

He said his main concerns were around the level of trustee knowledge of the strategy and the investment risk associated with these products.