Record transfers from industry funds to SMSFs
SMSFs continue to benefit from members transferring from mostly industry funds at record amounts over a 12-month period, analysis shows.
Wealth Data’s analysis of the most recent APRA superannuation data by fund type, data from financial adviser information, population statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and recent SMSF data from the Australian Taxation Office found there has been a significant upturn in the assets being transferred from Industry funds to SMSFs.
Colin Williams, founder of Wealth Data, said SMSF funds generally drag funds from all other fund types, but over recent times, the transfers from industry funds are much larger than other fund types, whereas it was reasonably proportional in 2022.
The latest analysis from Wealth Data also showed that net assets for all APRA funds and SMSFs dipped slightly. Net assets in SMSFs dipped to $969 billion from $976 billion, but up from $943 billion over 12 months.
Additionally, net transfer to SMSFs from industry funds are now running at well over $1 billion a month. The rolling 12 months is at -$4,817 million compared to the first quarter of 2024, where the rolling 12 months net transfer was at $3,484 billion.
Williams said that as the number of advisers has steadied, the opportunity in terms of super fund assets per adviser has also steadied.
“The total assets for APRA and SMSF funds, when divided by the number of advisers as of March 2025, shows a $253 million per adviser opportunity, this is slightly down from $256 million last quarter,” Williams said.
“In December 2018, it was only $88 million.”
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