SMSF Association CEO urges caution of technology advances in sector

Speaking on a panel examining technology trends at the association’s 2022 national conference in Adelaide this week, John Maroney said that technology advances will benefit the sector, however, they “will be evolutionary, not revolutionary” and that “any change must benefit the SMSF trustee”.

“The building blocks for a strong integration between technological change – I include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this – the advice community and trustees are in place, and now we must focus on maximising the benefits for both the industry and trustees,” he said.

“This is particularly the case where it applies to legislation and regulation, where change is influenced by government policy priorities, and we have to accept that sometimes our sector will not be the first priority.”

On the same panel, Investment Trends’ head of research, Dr Irene Guiamatsia, said SMSF trustees must be at the front and centre of any technological change.

“The pandemic created a unique opportunity for all to experience first-hand the best-of-breed benefits of technology, and to become more adaptable and supportive of change. SMSF trustees are no different,” Dr Guiamatsia said.

“It is therefore incumbent on the industry and SMSF providers to continue to ensure future technological evolution responds to these heightened expectations.”

Elsewhere at the national conference, the SMSF Association’s deputy CEO and director of policy and education, Peter Burgess, blasted the government’s non-arm’s length expenditure (NALE) rules.

Mr Burgess said the rules - which are designed to prevent superannuation funds from circumventing contributions caps and artificially inflating fund earnings through non-commercial dealings – “have much broader implications” for the super sector then originally intended.

“Prior to the introduction of the NALE rules, we were certainly not coming across SMSF members who were undercharging for services provided to their fund as a deliberate strategy to circumvent the contribution caps or to artificially inflate the fund’s investment earnings,” Mr Burgess said.

“So, if we need to have these rules, it is imperative they are appropriately targeted and are fit for purpose.”

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.