SMSFs should be allowed to invest in collectibles
Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), along with other major superannuation funds, should have the ability to invest in collectibles and 'personal use' assets, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
In a submission responding to the preliminary recommendations of the Cooper Review, ASFA strongly disagreed with the Cooper Review Panel, which had recommended a prohibition on SMSF trustees acquiring collectibles or 'personal use' assets.
The ASFA submission said that a statistical analysis published by the Cooper Review itself had revealed that the total value of such assets as artworks, collectibles, metals and jewels represented just 0.1 per cent of all SMSF assets and that the practical reality was that very few SMSFs held such investments.
The submission said that ASFA would prefer it if all super funds, including SMSFs, were able to invest in assets that the trustee believed were appropriate to the provision of retirement benefits.
It said that if the Cooper Review Panel wished to ban collectibles in SMSFs, a grandfathering provision should also be made available to SMSFs that had invested in collectibles - thus allowing them to continue, but not increase, their current investment in such assets.
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