POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
SPAA backs calls for specialist SMSF training
Calls by the Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) for financial advisers to undertake specialist self-managed super fund (SMSF) training if they advise in this area has received a tick of approval from the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA).
SPAA said it is particularly pleased with the recommendation that the minimum training standard should be lifted to an Australian Qualifications Framework level seven bachelor degree, saying this is what SPAA has always pushed for.
SPAA director of technical professional standards Graeme Colley is happy the PJC has identified SMSF advice as a specialist field.
"The proposal that specialist SMSF education be undertaken by those providing advice on SMSFs, in addition to satisfying core competencies for financial advice, is one of the key recommendations that SPAA made to the PJC," Colley said.
Colley is also pleased the PJC has recommended that the term ‘general advice' should be renamed as ‘product and sales information', while personal advice should be renamed ‘financial advice' in the Corporations Act 2001.
"This will give consumers a clearer understanding of the type of advice they are receiving and how it meets their financial advice needs," Colley said.
The PJC said the term product and sales information "more closely reflects the nature of the information that is currently given to the consumer under the term ‘general advice'".
It also said the government should bring forward legislation that safeguards the titles financial adviser and financial planner, and necessitate that only those who are registered as a financial adviser can use the title.
Recommended for you
The impact of identity theft and its threat to superannuation savings were highlighted in a case that went before the Federal Court at the end of 2023.
A recent NSW Supreme Court decision is an important reminder that while super funds may be subject to restrictive superannuation and tax laws, in essence they are still a trust and subject to equitable and common law claims, says a legal expert.
New research from the University of Adelaide has found SMSFs outperformed APRA funds by more than 4 per cent in 2021–22.
The SMSF Association has made a number of policy recommendations for the superannuation sector in its pre-budget submission to the government.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI Second Close
61.07 3 y p.a(%)
2
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
59.21 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.56 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
31.06 3 y p.a(%)
5
DomaCom 4/27 Crombie Avenue Bundall QLD 4217 Australia
26.81 3 y p.a(%)
