ASIC announced a revised approach to the wholesale investor test last week, stating that if a SMSF trustee has at least $2.5 million in net assets, then the trustee will be treated as a wholesale investor in terms of receiving advice and subscribing for financial products on behalf of an existing fund.
Previously ASIC said SMSF trustees were only classified as wholesale investors if they had at least $10 million in net assets.
IMAP chairman Toby Potter said given that many SMSF trustees will meet either the net asset test of $2.5 million or the income test of $250,000 for the past two years this will enable advisers to offer a wholesale managed discretionary account (MDA) service.
“This will substantially reduce the compliance burden for advisers who have previously hesitated about offering MDA’s,” said Mr Potter.
“The result is likely to be a significant improvement to the quality of portfolio management offered to this type of investor.”
