Smstrusteenews and research house CoreData have announced the winners of the ninth annual SMSF Service Provider Awards, which were presented during a recent online event.
The winners, drawn from 15 categories covering investments and services available to SMSFs, are the leading providers according to trustees surveyed by the research firm. Similar awards, as voted on by SMSF advisers and accountants, were also presented to service providers at the event.
CoreData principal Andrew Inwood, who oversaw the collection and analysis of the trustee feedback, said during the awards presentation service providers that were named as leaders usually had good processes in place, an ability to meet the needs of their trustee clients or had become entrenched in the market due to a consistent provision of services over the years.
Inwood noted the COVID-19 pandemic had continued to put stress on the SMSF sector, but service providers had maintained their high levels of delivery during this period.
He said it was important to have the views of trustees and advice practitioners in the SMSF sector and the research behind the awards gave a good understanding of their opinions on service providers.
“The awards were based on a survey of 350 trustees, conducted in June and July, and this was a voting sample so it was frequency of use and satisfaction which drove the numbers,” he said.
Long-term awards sponsor La Trobe Financial echoed Inwood’s comments, with director of client partnerships Lilian Chin saying: “It is important we support these awards as they recognise the best of the best in the industry.
“With the judging undertaken by advisers and trustees, these awards are truly demographic and representative of the market’s voice, and this is a simple and critical difference compared with other awards.”
This year’s award winners include some new names, including international shares investing firm Interactive Brokers, fund administrator MORE Superannuation, trust deed supplier BMR Corporate Solutions and listed investment company Future Generation Investment Company. Other names are more familiar and have been award winners in the past, including CommSec, Macquarie Wrap and Australian Independent Audit Services, which were all named as leading providers in their relevant sectors in 2020 as well.
Smstrusteenews and CoreData congratulate all the winners for their high level of service provision in the past year.
The 2021 trustee-voted winners of the best SMSF service providers in their respective categories are:
Trustee category
Australian shares – CommSec
International shares – Interactive Brokers
Fixed income – Franklin Templeton
Administrator – MORE Superannuation
Commercial property – Cromwell Property Group
Residential property loan – Bank of Queensland
Investment platform – Macquarie Wrap
Cash and term deposits – Bank of Queensland
Insurance – OnePath
Audit function provider – Australian Independent Audit Services
ETF provider – BetaShares
Listed investment company – Future Generation Investment Company
Trust deed supplier – BMR Corporate Solutions
Infrastructure – Colonial First State
Innovator – DirectMoney
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