Hi Everyone,
I’m looking at the options to possibly reduce my SMSF administration costs and Esuperfund has emerged as a possibility.
I would very much appreciate any feedback SWS members have on their experiences using this service, especially in transferring from my situation like mine of having a mature corporate trustee SMSF that is fully in pension mode and invests using SPA3 Investor on both the Australian and US markets. What were the issues, constraints and challenges in making the transition? Were there issues in transferring current investment holdings to Esuperfund, were there issues in retaining current stock brokers, etc?
Being an online only service and presumably to keep its costs low, Esuperfund does not provide any way of actually speaking to a company person about all the issues and how this service deals with them. This tends to make me wary of the service unless experiences have been excellent.
Hi Don. I previously used Cavendish (which changed to AMP/Gallagher) but found them too expensive and cumbersome. So I changed to https://www.onlinesuperfund.com.au/ . I find them very easy to deal with and had no issues making the transition and using current investments and stock brokers. My SMSF only has ASX investments though as I had the US ones in personal names. Would be worth having a look at them.
Research: iCare SMSF Accounting.
Unlimited banks, unlimited transactions, unlimited brokers, online but have office in Bentleigh, Vic
$77 per month inc GST includes Audit and returns. Ancilliary services available.
3 years with no problems.
Hi Don, I currently have eSuperFund to do my annual SMSF reporting. I have found the service generally acceptable. I have Saxo Account and trade AUD and USD using SPA3. From my understanding of eSuperFund the key considerations would be, 1. All communication is vis eMail no telephone support. 2. Acceptable broker accounts are limited to Saxo and 1 or 2 others. 3. Bare account institutions again only 1 or 2 accepted I’m currently with CBA and have been advised I need to open new bare account with another financial institution. In the end I have found other means of investing that are not within the scope of what eSuper will accept and am looking to have another 3rd party complete my SMSF reporting for 2022 onwards.
I have been using esuperfund for many years. It’s cost-effective and the year-end process has been improving over time and its lean. I get the audit etc. done through them as well as it is part of the fees. It is true that only email support is offered but reasonably quick responses, no chance to talk to someone so if you need that it is not a good option.
have been using Esuperfund for a number of years , haven’t had too many issues although for the past 2 tax returns I’ve had to chase them to get it completed. In the most recent tax return ( after prompting them that time was running out) they said SAXO hadn’t sent them the required info . I call BS on that one , but then they asked me to generate the reports they needed and send to them. My questions around their processes which could allow one’s return to sit in a pile went unanaswered . So all communications are forced to be channelled through their web front end which can be frustrating at times if you have a question that doesn’t neatly fit into a box . So all I can say is if you neatly fit into their ideal client profile then you should be ok, however I’m finding the constraints around brokers to become a pain. I will probably start looking around for another firm that gives me a bit more flexibilty and some human interaction as I approach retirement age . Yes I will need to pay for it, however I figure that reduced brokerage by using my choice of broker will go a long way to offset that
I have been using Esuperfund for a number of years and it has been fine, the SMSF was set up for free and the audit cost is very reasonable but it has the limitations as laid out by Ivan and in the last couple of years they seem to submit the audit just before the deadline even though I complete it months in advance which is quite stressful. It would be reassuring if they provided some updates as to the progress of the audit once submitted.
I have a Saxo account for US but was fed up with the cost of brokerage for ASX with Commsec then Ebroking so set up a Selfwealth account myself within the superfund as you can do…I was not looking forward to the audit but all they required was to attach a pdf of the EOFY reports of the SW cash account and SW trading account.
Hi Don
I have been using Super Guardian for 5 years. I can’t speak highly enough of their service and strongly recommend them if you fit their offering profile (the main one being if they can interface to your broker)
Setting it up was straightforward and painless.
I have an appointed client manager for any help I need and have been dealing with the same person the entire time which is a bonus.
Emails are typically responded to same or next day. Telephone support from my client manager is there when you need it and I’ve found often extends to general super questions beyond their service offering (don’t know if that is an informal arrangement)
They are pro active in their interactions so I’ve found they are always prompting me for any actions that are needed and well ahead of time.
All documentation management and signing is electronic so an automated round trip from SG to me to their auditor and on to the ato happens in an afternoon and then stored in an online file.
They also provide the “class” online reporting system which as well as balances shows things like dividends not yet received, capital gains realised and unrealised as well as your typical performance reports. It’s pretty good but there could be a few more bells and whistles.
All up my costs are $1430 and include audit and unlimited broking transactions.
Considerations
You needed to open a Macquarie bank account for money going into and account of the account to have the fastest cash transfers (may have expanded to other banks)
Transactions are unlimited provided they can take an electronic feed from your broker. These were originally just a few but I know they have expanded these choices.
I’m unsure if they handle non asx broking
Hi Don
I’m going to add another company for you to consider.
I been using Xpress Super for my SMSF administration since 2018.
I have a dedicated Client Manager who I can contact via phone or e-mail or in person.
They have offices in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide
The original transfer of my portfolio was done smoothly.
I originally traded with CommSec, but have recently switched to SelfWealth
I have only traded ASX, but will add US soon. SelfWealth offer US trading so expect the addition to not cause any problems.
I find Xpress Super fees reasonable (they are a self confessed low cost provider), their fees are published on their website.
Xpress Super respond to my e-mail contact promptly, and the annual returns, audit etc are also promptly completed.
One aspect I really like is Xpress Super use Class Super (a cloud-based SMSF administration solution). You have your own individual logon to Class Super and your SMSF is updated overnight with the latest data from trading, bank accounts, dividends, pension payments, etc. This includes individual entitlements for each member of your SMSF. So next day you can logon and see an up-to-date picture of your SMSF as of close of business the day before.
Garry
Hi,
Thanks Brian, Joern, Ivan, Therese and Trevor for sharing your experiences with Esuperfund, and thanks to the others for your inputs on other options for low cost funds.
Much appreciated
Don
Hi Don, what did your “research” regarding options came back with. I like esuperfund but not to have a chance to talk to anyone is a bit limiting.
Cheers
Joern
I took the review a little further after the messages above in looking at the options discussed but ulitmately didn’t finish the review. Other life demands took over for a period and then with the new super rules that came in on 1 July there were a number of opportunities for my wife and me to move money between our accounts. As a result of these complexities I decided to stay with my current providor for the time being.
I have uses selfmanagedsuper.com.au for about a 10 years for purely SMSF accounting and tax returns (they also provide a financial advice service but I’ve never used that). With them I’ve had a nominated client manager that I can email or phone and that works well for me with a fairly complex fund with a number of different accounts across a range of asset classes. SMS does not impose any limits on me terms of required accounts or unsupported investment options, brokers etc, as long as everything is permitted by the ATO of course.
My accounting fees in that time have not increased until this year, and I can see a future trend to increase fees under the smokescreen of increasing community tolerance of higher inflation. Generally though I believe that SMSF costs have been decreasing in the last decade and I’ll probably be looking again at options to reduce costs once my fund changes have been fully executed and their accounting completed.