The survey for March covers 4,500 funds, a sample of the SMSFs administered by SuperConcepts, and the investments they held at 31 March 2022 which exceeds $7.5 billion in assets.

SuperConcepts' executive manager of technical and strategic solutions, Philip La Greca, said one of the key takeaways from this survey is that almost 1 in 3 dollars are invested through pooled structures.

“The highest usage is in international sectors, with over 75 per cent of international equities and international fixed interest exposure through managed funds and ETFs,” said Mr La Greca.

“This is reflected in the top ten pooled vehicles, where eight are international products and four are ETFs.”

The findings of the survey also highlights some of the differences in asset allocation between SMSFs and APRA funds.

Mr La Greca said that the allocation to cash is higher for SMSFs, which is unsurprising given the larger proportion of pension members.

“Equities exposure is almost identical but the split between domestic and international highlight the limited ways SMSFs and other retail investors can access overseas markets.”

Mr La Greca also questioned whether SMSFs actually have a greater exposure to real property compared with APRA funds.

While the figures showed that SMSFs hold 16 per cent in real property versus APRA-regulated funds at 8.5 per cent, Mr La Greca pointed out that assets such as airports, toll road, and ports are classified as infrastructure rather than specialist property by APRA funds. SMSFs held 4.9 per cent in infrastructure assets versus the 9 per cent held in APRA funds.