Investors are being hindered in their investment decision making by the burden of compliance, according to AMP Capital Markets head of private clients Giles Craig.
As the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) conference opens in Sydney today, research from AMP Capital and Investment Trends showed around 21 per cent of accountants cited keeping up to date with legislative changes as the biggest challenge in servicing self-managed super fund (SMSF) clients, while 15 per cent said compliance obligations and 12 per cent listed the time required to administer SMSFs as the biggest burden.
"Industry participants are focused on compliance issues as opposed to investment issues, as they have to be, but whether that is healthy for the market, probably not," Craig said.
Trustees entering either new or existing SMSFs will need to formally declare they understand their obligations and responsibilities as a member of the fund from June 30, 2007.
"Our research showed that over 76 per cent of the SMSFs recently established through an accountant had been set up in order for the investor to gain more control," Craig said.
"The challenge for SMSF investors comes in being able to devote enough attention to constructing an appropriate investment portfolio when the administration of the fund is in itself time consuming."
