Recent amendments to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) ("SIS Act"?) allow super fund trustees to invest in certain geared investments which were previously prohibited. Initially conceived to address problems caused by instalment warrants, the new rules permit many other direct borrowing strategies by fund trustees. Potential investments include all asset classes permissible under the SIS Act, for example, real estate. This represents a paradigm shift in the regulatory attitude towards the gearing of super funds. Are you ready for the instalment warrant revolution?
Aimed at anyone who deals with Superannuation Funds, topics covered included:
- what an instalment warrant is and why the SIS Act was amended
- April 2008 - ATO Announcements
- review of the different instalment warrant structures
- relationship with other SIS limitations
- freedoms and uncertainties in the legislation
- gearing in super and the impact on investment strategy, cash flow and risk
- when gearing would be inappropriate.