Coping with super reform

OCT 2010

A new super fund services firm has launched to assist self-managed super fund (SMSF) holders and their accountants cope with the challenges of reform.

Superfund Partners general manager Carol Halton will focus on specific aspects of client portfolios in co-operation with their existing accountants.

While Halton supports the Cooper Review’s stance on SMSFs she disagrees with the $25,000 cap on contributions.

“I was encouraged by the Cooper Review’s stance on self-managed super funds, that they’re doing well and doing the right thing, but whether I agree or disagree, we need to ask how we can work best?,” she says.

“I do disagree with the contribution cap levels. I think they’re way too low for a lot of reasons, that we have a goal of self-funded retirees but at the same time a cap on contributions.

“For example you might have a doctor that could easily put $25,000 in contributions, so let’s give him information in real time so we can alert him as it happens so he’s not finding out later that he has to pay excess contributions tax.”

Halton says the new system helps an industry where accountants are so pressed crunching numbers that SMSF management is often done in retrospect.

“Our business is to educate trustees and that’s where our industry needs to change, as it’s a bit of a misnomer to say it’s a do-it-yourself fund, because to manage effectively you need a team of professionals,” she says.