POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
SPAA rejects single regulator for all super
Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) are different and should remain under the regulatory oversight of the Australian Taxation Office, according to the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA).
SPAA chief executive Andrea Slattery has rejected the findings of a Super Review survey that the superannuation industry should be covered by a single regulator — the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The survey, conducted during the recent Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) national conference in Perth, revealed that over three-quarters of respondents supported a single regulator.
However Slattery described the outcome as being "wilfully ignorant" of how the sector works".
"The simple fact is APRA's mandate under the SIS legislation is to regulate funds solely on a prudential basis," she said.
"The reason for this level of control is to ensure trustees who are removed from fund members have substantial and robust systems in place to protect those members' interests.
"This differs to SMSFs that have a more detailed and technical oversight to ensure the amounts being accumulated for members is directed to the sole purpose of building retirement savings," Slattery said.
She said that for APRA to be allowed to apply prudential principles to SMSFs would result in significant changes in non-compliance because prudential supervision was general and broad-based — something which only worked where large funds were involved due to their magnitude and scale of operation.
"It also ignores the fact that the current regulator, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), is one of the premier government agencies that competently operates in a high volume processing environment. When you consider there are more than half a million SMSFs, then that's exactly the type of agency that's required for SMSFs," she said.
Recommended for you
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
