The Australian Securities Exchange’s mFunds platform service allows investors to directly purchase units in a managed fund as they would ordinary shares.
This compliments existing options of listed shares, listed investment companies (LICs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) thus enabling investors to structure a sophisticated investment portfolio through a single platform.
DIY super investors in particular will look to invest in the now more easily accessible unlisted funds as they seek to address the natural bias they have towards direct shares and cash.
SMSFs represent about one-third of the assets of Australia’s approximately $1.8 trillion retirement savings pool.
According to the most recent figures collected by the Australian Tax Office, the 520,000-odd SMSFs in existence had $52.5 billion invested in unlisted trusts.
As SMSF account balances have grown, a new breed of LICs and ETFs have sprung up to take advantage of the sector’s long-held bias toward cash and the shares of large-cap domestic companies.