The SMSF Association has taken the Product Commission (PC) to task over the quality of the data it used its supplementary analysis on investment performance, arguing that it contains flaws which will need to be recognised in any final analysis.
The Association described data utilised by the PC as having “inherent weaknesses”.
In a submission filed with the PC, the SMSF Association said it believed the Commission’s final report would need to make the caveat that the data used for analysis around SMSF investment returns contained deficiencies.
“We also maintain our position that the Commission should not be making recommendations regarding SMSF establishment balances based on data which has inherent weaknesses,” he said.
However, the SMSF Association said it did believe the data confirmed that age was a factor in SMSF cost-effectiveness in circumstances where younger SMSFs had lower returns on assets and higher expense ratios.
“There is no doubt that SMSF expense ratios are much more clearly related to fund size than fund age, however, this does not mean that SMSF age is not important,” it said.
In doing so, the SMSF Association warned the PC against using flawed data to conclude that the age of a fund was not a significant factor in returns.
