Self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustees have boosted their investments in equities and reduced their allocation to cash, according to a Multiport  survey.

SMSF trustees increased their allocation to equities from 32 per cent in December 2008 to 42 per cent in December 2009, the survey found.

SMSFs increased their direct share holdings from 27 per cent to 36 per cent in the last quarter, while investments in managed funds increased slightly from 6.2 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

Over the last six months, however, SMSFs reduced their exposure to cash from 28 per cent to 22 per cent.

"The cash built up over 2008 and remained that way in the first half of 2009, then commenced a shift into equities in good correlation to the rising market over recent months," Multiport chief executive John Mcllroy said.

"The average SMSF still has cash of around $190,000 ready to invest, so there is room for further substantial changes in market participation if greater stability is seen in sharemarkets."

The survey also found that over the last two years SMSFs have nearly halved their exposure to international equities.

"This is the second quarter we have seen a reversal in the figures with overall exposure moving from 7 per cent to 7.3 per cent," Mcllroy said. 

In December 2007, SMSFs had about 13.7 per cent exposure to international equities.

SMSFs also decreased their exposure to property and fixed income over the last quarter from 16.9 per cent to 15.6 per cent and 8.6 per cent to 7.8 per cent, respectively.

Direct property remains the dominant style of investing property allocations, Mcllroy said.

"The last quarter will have brought good returns to the average SMSF and if the market improvement is maintained in the near term then trustees should be in a good position come the end of the financial year," he said.

The survey covers 1200 SMSFs that Multiport administers and the investments they held as at December 2009.