SMSF sector grows 26% in 5 years

In its statistical overview for 2015/16, ATO assistant commissioner Kasey Macfarlane said the number of SMSFs in Australia is up 26 per cent to 597,000 over the five years to the 2016/17 financial year.

Member balances also increased by the same percentage over that period, with some demographics within the SMSF trustee cohort doing particularly well.

“While we continue to see strong growth in average member balances overall at 26 per cent over the last five years, female members have grown their balances at a higher rate than their male counterparts, at 30 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, over the last five years,” she said.

Ms Macfarlane said the ATO continues to see a decrease in the median age of new members in newly established funds, with the median age falling from 50 years in 2012 to 47 years in 2016.

“This tells us that more trustees are entering the SMSF sector at an earlier stage in their working life than in previous years,” she said.