SMSF stats show continued sector growth

• Over 610,000 SMSFs holding $876 billion in assets, with more than 1.1 million SMSF members, as at 30 June 2023
• SMSFs had assets of almost $1.5 million on average in 2021-22, up 18% over five years but down by 2% from 2020-21
• 65% of SMSFs have existed for more than 10 years
• 45% of SMSFs had assets between $200,001 and $1 million — this accounts for 17% of total of SMSF assets
• The median age of SMSF members of newly established funds in 2021-22 was 46; the median age of all SMSF members was 62 as at 30 June 2023
• The average member balance for females increased by 23% over the five years to 2021-22, while the average balance for males increased by 19% over the same period.

SMSFs account for 25% of all superannuation assets

The ATO has also released its latest statistical information for SMSFs, highlighting that SMSFs continue to account for a large proportion of superannuation assets at 25%, or $876 billion, in financial year 2022–23.

For the five years to June 2023 there were, on average, 24,000 SMSFs established each year and 13,800 wound up each year. Overall assets in SMSFs rose by 23% over the past five years, while the number of SMSFs increased by 9%.

Asset data is for the financial year 2021–22 and shows that listed shares continue to be the most popular asset in SMSFs, at 28%, followed by cash and term deposits at 18% and unlisted trusts at 12%.

Over the past five years average assets per member increased 20% to $780,000 while average assets per SMSF rose by 18% to $1.45 million.

The median age of all SMSF members at the end of last financial year was 62 while the median age of members of newly established funds in the 2021–22 financial year was 46 years.

These statistics provide an indicator of the health and performance of the entire SMSF sector. They provide indicative information about items such as type of investments and costs incurred by existing funds.

Source: ATO