As with estimated SMSF investment performance data, care must be taken when using the operating expense ratio figures, as comparisons may not be meaningful. While the methodology used to estimate the operating expense ratio is as close as possible to APRA's, the data collected is not the same (see appendix 2).
Notwithstanding, the estimated average operating expense ratio of SMSFs fell from 0.69%, to 0.59% and 0.54% over the years ended 30 June 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively.22
Estimates of average SMSF operating expenses in 2010 were almost $4,840 compared to $6,389 and $5,159 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
SMSFs with less than $50,000 in assets had almost a 7% average operating expense ratio compared to SMSFs with more than $500,000 in assets that had an average of less than 1% (see appendix 1, table 19).
As can be expected, graph 21 shows the estimated operating expense ratio for SMSFs declined in direct proportion to the increased size of the funds.
Graph 21: SMSF operating expense ratio by fund size
The majority of SMSFs had an estimated operating expense ratio of less than 1% (64.7% of SMSFs in 2010), the highest proportion (almost 38% in 2010) had an estimated operating expense ratio of 0.25% or less (see appendix 1, table 20).
Approved auditors play a major role in regulating SMSFs. In the year ended 30 June 2010, the average audit fee was $60723, decreasing each year from 2008 to 2010. Fees varied significantly depending on the services provided. The average audit fee for those who completed only the SMSF audit was $571. Approved auditors reported as providing other services charged an average fee of $882 (see appendix 1, table 21).
In the year ended 30 June 2010, over 53% of SMSFs paid less than $500 to approved auditors for audit fees, while over 3% paid $2,000 or more.
Last Modified: Thursday, 7 March 2013