“Unwinding of this kind of investment appears to be occurring because they can be expensive and complex to administer and returns have not been significantly different to competitor funds. Meanwhile, mainstream funds have also actively targeted this market,” the report stated.

VicSuper’s comments follow claims by Australian Super of a “substantial increase” in return traffic from SMSFs.

“There was a one-way traffic story [until] 2012. Since then it’s very much a two-way traffic story,” said head of proposition and product at Australian Super, Andrew Baker.

Australian Super is now conducting research into the reasons behind this trend. Preliminary research has found there is a “very dissatisfied segment who were sold the dream” with an inadequate balance for their aspirations.

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