It talks about how the big banks , AMP etc, have developed products to enable SMSF trustees to simply go to say ANZ, and have ANZ manage your SMSF for you.
They say, you just pay a flat annual fee (plus some "extras" eg extra if you have assets other than shares like a rental property, accounts with other banks, overseas assets etc etc).
So I went to ANZ site and had a read. http://www.smsf.anz.com/#download-details http://www.smsf.anz.com/assets/docs/anz-self-managed-super-asg.pdf
You pay $1995 p/a (after you have paid for transferring everything across to ANZ) and they will "administer" your SMSF for you ! wonderful I thought.
But when you read it, the Admin fee does not cover: - preparing the financial accounts - preparing the tax return - audit of the fund.
ANZ can provide you "access" to these service providers. you can use ANZ auditor for cost of $250- $650 providing certain criteria are met.
I would guess most accountants would charge say $500 -$1,000 for preparing financial accounts, possibly another $500 to prepare and lodge Tax Return, and say $300-$500 for the auditor.
If you want any advice from ANZ you have to "access" a 3rd party Fin Advisor - for a fee!
My point is, as far as I can see, this product, plus probably other products, are a waste of money.
the big cost in running your own SMSF is the accounting/tax/audit costs. NOT THE DAY TO DAY RUNNING OR INVESTMENT.
You can keep the management of your investments in shares by utilising the tools of your online broker - eg the Watchlist, Trading History etc
