Cutcher | Insights and News

ATO SMSF statistics

Written by Cutcher & Neale Accounting and Financial Services | 16 March 2022 3:45:00 AM

Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) make up a large portion of the superannuation and investor market here in Australia.

We reviewed the most recent ATO statistics to drill into this ever-growing industry.

How many self-managed superannuation funds are there?

  • According to the most recent ATO statistics released for the December quarter, the total number of SMSFs was 601,906!
  • Of these 601,906 funds, there are over 1.1 million members with $876 billion assets!
  • Whilst SMSFs can have 4 (and now up to 6) members, according to data extracted in July 2021, only 7% of funds had more than 2 members

Who are these members?

  • According to ATO statistics from June 2021, 65.5% of members are over age 55
  • Over 70% of members have an annual taxable income of less than $100,000. Keep in mind that this income level does not include account-based pensions of anyone over age 60, which would likely make up a huge portion of the over age 55 membership base
  • 8% are male & 47.2% are female

What do they invest in?

According to ATO data from January 2022, of all the money invested through SMSFs:

  • 29% is invested in listed shares
  • 18% is invested in cash & term deposits
  • 17% is invested in property

Who is setting up SMSFs?

All of the above information was for the SMSF industry as a whole, but are these demographics changing?

  • Out of the new funds established in the December quarter, 37% of new members are aged 35 to 44, compared to the overall 11% of current members in this age group
  • 7% of new members were male and 43.3% were female (quite similar to the overall statistics)
  • Taxable income for new members was very broad, 39.7% of new members had a taxable income of over $100,000 and 39.2% with a taxable income of between $40,000 & $80,000

If you require any assistance please reach out to the C&N team.