The $290 billion self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector is managed by amateur investors who need access to professional managers, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P).

The research firm said the sector is the fast growing industry in super, yet this growth and accumulation of wealth raises questions about how assets are allocated within these funds.

"It would therefore be easy to argue that amateur chief investment officers (CIOs) should not be controlling up to one-third of Australia's superannuation assets. Assets should be handed over to professionals to manage," S&P head of capital market research Phil Bayley said.

He said that while "these amateur CIOs have been very successful despite the hurdles and pitfalls that they have already overcome to get to where they are today," professional assistance is needed if the sector is to remain successful. 

Financial services could provide assistance to SMSFs in the areas of risk management and portfolio diversification, he said.

The fixed interest market was also problematic for SMSFs to invest in viable products.

"In the debt market, there is an opportunity to create a deeper, more liquid and transparent market than the opaque over-the-counter market that operates at present," Bayley said.

"SMSFs generally don't have the same access to the investment tools and opportunities that are available to institutional and professional investors. The SMSFs offer an opportunity that we will ignore at our peril," he said.