Using proprietary Australian Tax Office (ATO) data, we document the size, asset allocation and expenses for a sample of 209,420 Australian self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) for the three years to June 2010. Two recent Government reviews have highlighted a lack of basic knowledge of the costs associated with running an SMSF. Our study aims to...

Abstract

After declining worldwide since the late 1980s, defined benefits plans will not recover their previous dominance in Australia because they can only be offered by large and stable organisations. Since 1992 Australia has had compulsory superannuation that is mostly privately managed. In addition, several policy measures have unduly weakened defined benefits schemes, especially in the...

The paper introduces the background to, and initial analytical priorities for, the programme of research funded by CIFR Grant EO33.