Property industry under ASIC scrutiny
Property investment within SMSF is under scrutiny in an investigation welcomed by numerous property industry professionals.
An Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation’s taskforce findings about property in SMSFs has been welcomed by the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) for recognising property spruiking activities and bringing them to the notice of investors.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
PIPA chair, Ben Kingsley, said that he welcomes the decision to focus on property in SMSFs and explained that investors need to be more aware now than ever as SMSF numbers grow.
“Such news is welcomed strongly by PIPA, who has long held grave concerns about property spruikers, particularly those targeting SMSF investors,” Mr Kingsley said.
ASIC commissioner Peter Kell recently said that they “do not want to see SMSFs become the vehicle of choice for property spruikers" and urged investors to check the quality of any advice they are given.
“Where we see examples of unlicensed SMSF advice, or misleading marketing, we will be taking regulatory action,” Mr Kell said.
Reports of Australian investors suffering at the hands of “unscrupulous marketeers” are all too common, Mr Kingsley continued.
“While ASIC remains comfortable for such professionals to provide advice on property selection, PIPA believes trustees not only require but deserve specialised property investment advice,” he said.
He explained that PIPA will continue to lobby the government for regulation of the industry.
