Yesterday the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia announced it has formally changed its name to the “SMSF Association” effective immediately.
However, despite the omission of the word ‘professionals’, the association’s longstanding chief executive, Andrea Slattery, said the decision should not be read as a change in strategy or remit.
“We are a professional association, we always have been a professional association, there is nothing now to question whether we are a professional association,” Ms Slattery told InvestorDaily.
Rather, the move reflects the association’s objective to raise professional standards across the entire sector – a goal, Ms Slattery says, that has not changed since SPAA’s establishment, despite four name changes during that time.
A statement issued by the association – which will now go by the acronym SMSFA, according to a spokesperson – indicates the decision stemmed from a wish to formalise its broader leadership of SMSF industry stakeholders.
“Since inception … we have directly represented the professionals servicing the SMSF community and, indirectly, a majority of the more than one million trustees and members who are involved in SMSFs,” the statement said.
“It’s critical that the organisation has a name that reflects the importance of the SMSF sector and the breadth of its membership.”
Asked a number of times whether the body will introduce trustee or consumer members in the future, Ms Slattery responded: “We do not currently have any trustee members”.
At the same time she said ending consumer confusion about the association’s role and providing ease of access to SMSF specialists via the internet were core considerations.
