Industry funds are well positioned to offer their own low-cost self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF), according to SMSF specialist Grant Abbott.

Abbott said industry funds faced the prospect of losing a large portion of members to the SMSF sector, particularly members with large account balances.

"Many of these industry funds now have a growing portion of members who each have about $50,000 to $60,000 in their super accounts," he said.

"I am saying to these guys [industry funds]: why don't you all set up your own SMSFs for your members?" 

He said industry funds could offer SMSFs that cost around $500 to $600 a year.

"These funds would only need to offer two or three investment options, including access to the property market," he said.

He said the the Cooper review's MySuper proposal had pushed the superannuation industry to offer more low-cost superannuation products.

"I can't see why there can't be low-cost SMSFs," he said.

Industry superannuation funds, such as legalsuper and AustralianSuper, offer members the choice of actively choosing their share portfolio.

The strategy was part of a bid to retain high net worth members, both funds have said.

However, AustralianSuper general manager of growth and new opportunities Paul Schroder said the fund was yet to commit to offering a full SMSF product.

"We have to first ask ourselves why people really choose SMSFs. We really need to understand this before we commit ourselves to offering SMSFs," he said.