Corporate trustee structures losing traction
Despite industry discussion on the benefits of corporate trustee structures, the popularity of the structure has fallen, according to the SMSF Insights Report for February 2015.
The report, compiled by Quantum Financial Planning, indicates the proportion of SMSFs with a corporate trustee has fallen from 27 per cent in 2011 down to 23 per cent in 2014.
According to the report, 77 per cent or 410,995 SMSFs still have individual trustees.
It also showed that out of all SMSF registrations in 2013, only 8 per cent were set up as corporate trustees with the remaining 92 per cent were established with individual trustees.
“Despite the fact we typically prefer a corporate trustee for most of our clients, we believe SMSF members are talking with their feet and choosing to be in individual trustees due to the cost and perception of increased complexity,” said Quantum Financial Planning.
Another finding in the report was that member contributions have increased in relative weight, despite concessional caps having fallen.
In 2013 member contributions accounted for 74 per cent of the total average member contributions compared to 2009 when they accounted for only 61 per cent of all contributions, according to the report.
The average total contribution for an SMSF member, however, has fallen from $144,000 in 2009 to $106,000 in 2013.
According to Quantum Financial Planning, the percentage of SMSFs in accumulation phase has also fallen, decreasing from 70 per cent in 2009 to 63 per cent in 2013.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
