In a speech at the Sterling Publishing SMSF Strategy Day held in Sydney in November 2013 – and reiterated in an online blog post – Mr Dunn argued “specialist coaches will become a common feature of the advice framework, dealing with self-directed trustees on a needs basis”.

Mr Dunn also anticipated that time-based billing for SMSF compliance will become “non-existent” – to be replaced by more transparent fixed pricing systems – and that the sector will see an emergence of more specialist service providers.

“All this is great news for the sector with healthy growth, innovation and a growing need for professionals to deliver on the service needs of consumers,” the shadow minister told SPAA delegates.

“And to a large extent, that change has driven the change required in law to keep pace with professionals and consumers and that came in the form of the Future of Financial Advice reforms over the past few years.”

Mr Ripoll also described the SMSF sector as the “standout performer” in the Australian superannuation sector in recent years and thanked SPAA for its efforts to increase levels of professionalism.