Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) – small retirement savings funds with four or fewer members – now manage almost one third of retirement savings in Australia, and serve over one million members. The number of SMSFs has increased to more than half a million in two decades. Yet little is known about the reasons people start...

The number of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) has grown at more than 5% p.a. over the past five years. The net growth rate consists of 7% new SMSFs and 2% closures. More than 570,000 SMSFs now serve over one million members but little is known about the experiences of members. We survey 854 current and...

This paper reviews the nature of Australian bank prudential regulation before and after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). It begins by providing a detailed conceptual framework for understanding the functions of banks and deposit-takers, the theory of what can go wrong with the operation of these institutions, and the logic of prudential regulation. It then...