At 30 June 2010, the two most significant SMSF asset holdings were in Australian listed shares and cash and term deposits (see appendix 1, table 13). Graph 16 shows that 60.1% of all SMSF assets were directly invested in these two asset classes.
Graph 16: SMSF asset allocation
Note: Certain asset types have been amalgamated. See Table 13 for the complete list of assets.
Graph 17 shows significant shifts of SMSF asset holdings for the years ended 30 June 2008 to 30 June 2009, as compared to the years ended 30 June 2009 to 30 June 2010. There was a positive shift to listed shares and to a lesser extent other managed investments in 2010. This corresponds with a shift away from cash and term deposits, other assets and to a small extent non-residential property and the continued shift away from listed trusts. This reinforces the flexibility of SMSF investment strategies.
Graph 17: Change in percentage of total SMSF assets by asset type
Graph 18 shows the shifts over the same financial years (2008 to 2009 as compared to 2009 to 2010 years) in the proportion of SMSFs holding these assets. There continued to be an increase in the proportion of funds holding cash and term deposits, listed shares, non-residential real property and other assets.
Graph 18: Change in percentage of SMSF population holding assets by asset type
A comparison of Graphs 17 and 18 shows that in 2010, as a proportion of total SMSF assets, cash and term deposits held fell, while the proportion of SMSFs holding cash and term deposits rose. This indicates that while more funds held cash and term deposits in the 2010 financial year as compared to the 2009 financial year, in dollar terms there was a shift away from this type of investment. In contrast, while listed shares also experienced a rise in the number of funds holding these assets, this was complemented with a rise in the dollar value held. These shifts are likely a result of regained confidence in the world economy.
At 30 June 2010, 77% of the SMSF sector assets were reported as directly invested by the SMSF with just over 19% invested in trusts and managed investment structures. The remaining investments held included overseas and miscellaneous assets such as collectibles or other assets (see appendix 1, table 13).
The SMSF asset types were relatively consistent across asset ranges in 2010 (see appendix 1, table 14). The major asset holdings were cash and term deposits and Australian listed shares. SMSFs with $200,000 in assets or less were more likely to hold cash and term deposits. Those with more than $200,000 in assets had a greater tendency to invest in listed shares and held a relatively larger proportion of non-residential real property and unlisted trusts.
A comparison of SMSFs in the accumulation phase to the pension phase shows almost 34% of SMSFs are in the pension phase but held 52% of reported assets for the year ended 30 June 2010.19
In 2010, SMSFs reporting in the pension phase had very similar assets to SMSFs in the accumulation phase (see appendix 1, table 15). The only obvious difference was SMSFs in the pension phase generally held less property but more listed share assets.
Sections within SMSF assets
Last Modified: Thursday, 7 March 2013