FS Super

Recent changes to the limited recourse borrowing arrangement rules have shifted the focus for SMSFs. The new challenge is whether the property can genuinely satisfy the definition of business real property (BRP), as that is where it will count. From 10 August 2026, SMSFs using a new limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) for real property must ensure that the asset is business real property within the meaning of section 66 of the Supervision Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act).

BY   |  FRIDAY, 28 AUG 2026    1:38PM "I don't think I'm doing retirement right yet." A simply honest answer we recently heard from a retiree of six months. And it's something super funds are hearing more. Australia has built one of the world's strongest systems for helping people save for retirement. But as compulsory super matures and more than 2.5 million Australians approach retirement, success can no longer only be measured by the balances members build.

Division 296 superannuation tax officially passed through Parliament on 10 March 2026. This significant piece of legislation will affect Australians with large superannuation balances from 1 July 2026 onwards. There has been a lot of media coverage about this new tax, but there is one important exemption that has received very little attention - and it is directly relevant to anyone who has received, or may in the future receive, a personal injury settlement or court-ordered compensation payment.

BY   |  FRIDAY, 21 AUG 2026    1:23PM When looking at costs, APRA requires that super funds pay a lot of attention. All trustees report each year what it spent on member services, on compliance, or on administration. One thing that can't be found easily is what poor-quality onboarding and incomplete member data costs - because that was never designed, by anyone, to show up as a single number in a single place. Are the funds hiding things from members, or from the regulator?

A discussion about capacity to make decisions can focus on what control means, how it can be maintained with assistance, and what the client wants to happen when decision-making capacity is lost. Such discussions can be used to equip individuals with the mechanisms to preserve control and agency, whilst taking advantage of assistance and delegation options. An often-overlooked fact is that adults are generally presumed to have decision‐making capacity, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

BY   |  FRIDAY, 14 AUG 2026    1:58PM Australian investors have traditionally relied on two primary sources of income: dividend-paying shares and bank hybrids. More recently, private credit supplemented these income sources. Each offered a compelling proposition. Equities and bank hybrids delivered attractive post-tax income and private credit offered an illiquidity premium in exchange for locking capital away. However, the market has changed.

Superannuation funds looking to meet the regulators expectations of the Retirement Income Covenant (RIC) have been helped by Treasury's publication of the Best Practice Principles for retirement income solutions. These principles highlight the key requirements for delivering better member outcomes in retirement: •             know your members •             build a range of appropriate solutions •             guide members to their best solution.

BY   |  FRIDAY, 7 AUG 2026    12:24PM Global private equity has had a tough few years. After three years of stagnant growth and capital raising difficulties, deal momentum and volume started to pick up in 2025, despite a slowing early that year on the back of tariff announcements in the US. In 2025 global buyout value rose 44 per cent to $US904 billion while exit value rose 47 per cent to $US717 billion, according to Bain & Company's Global Private Equity Report 2026.

The real question is not whether AI is a bubble, but who constructed the system surrounding it and who will ultimately bear the losses when it unravels. Both institutional and retail investors are now crowded into a single, correlated trade. The mechanisms that allow the most aggressive actors to extract value while shifting risk onto superannuation members are deliberate. They reflect intentional design and regulatory consent.

Investors and policymakers hardly need reminding that macro shocks, both positive and negative, are hitting the global economy with growing frequency and force. Recent shocks have come from the supply side, most prominently from energy shortfalls and tariffs, but also the demand side-including the historic AI capex boom and fiscal loosening.