Investment platforms have maintained their share of self-managed super funds in the past two years but the market share of the providers has shifted in favour of the non-aligned platforms, Class has found in its latest SMSF Benchmark Report.
The September quarter Report, which is based on an analysis of 120,000 SMSFs, shows that slightly less than 1 in 5 SMSFs use platforms and this has remained relatively stable for the past two years.
The number of SMSFs using platforms – via a range of products such as wraps, IMAs and SMAs – grew from 17.8% in 2014 to 18.5% in 2016.
Furthermore, the proportion of assets these funds hold on the platform they are using has actually increased since 2014, from 55% to 58%, suggesting that predictions of the imminent demise of platforms in the SMSF market are premature.
However, the market share of different platform types has shifted significantly over the same period.
While all platforms increased the value of SMSF assets they held, most institutional platform providers lost ground compared to their non-aligned peers, especially the non-aligned Praemium, HUB24 and netwealth. The notable exception among the institutions was BT, which was able to build on its leading position and grow from 41% to 46% of all platform assets. Excluding BT, institutional platforms saw their share of platform assets drop from 47% to 40%.
The Report also found that SMSFs that use a platform allocate their assets differently to those that don’t.
The Class SMSF Benchmark Report provides a range of statistics on SMSFs, including top investment holdings across asset classes, member balance statistics and demographics. Each quarter the Report’s special feature focuses on a topical trend or debate in the SMSF sector.
You can download a copy of the September quarter report or previous reports here.
Kevin Bungard | CEO | CLASS
www.class.com.au
