Nearly half of young Aussies now have an SMSF

By Jon Bragg

April 21 2022
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A new survey has suggested that Gen Z are just as likely as Baby Boomers to have a self-managed super fund.

Young people are now taking control of their super investments as much as older generations with a new eToro survey finding that 47 per cent of Aussies aged under 35 currently have a self-managed super fund (SMSF).

Around 45 per cent of Gen Z respondents were found to have an SMSF, equal to the uptake among Baby Boomers, and 76 per cent of these Zoomers said they had created their SMSF within the past five years.

Two-thirds of Aussies aged under 35 with an SMSF said they had been building their fund for between one and five years.

“Despite stereotypical perceptions, Millennials and Gen Z Aussies are increasingly taking their superannuation and finances into their own hands,” said eToro Australia MD Robert Francis.

“They are realising the importance of investing younger than their parents - many as soon as 18 - in order to put themselves in an advantageous position for a comfortable retirement.”

A third of the young Aussies surveyed believed that they could get a better average return managing their super themselves compared to a traditional super fund.

Most young people said they were focused on generating a diversified SMSF portfolio, including 84 per cent of Millennials and 75 per cent of Gen Z.

The SMSF portfolios of Millennials were predominantly filled with stocks (60 per cent), crypto (43 per cent) and property (41 per cent).

Meanwhile, Gen Z respondents were more likely than Millenials to hold stocks (72 per cent), crypto (64 per cent) and property (50 per cent) in their portfolio, but both younger generations held less property than those aged over 45 (54 per cent).

For Millennial stock investors, the local share market is preferred (45 per cent) to the US (32 per cent), in contrast to Gen Z stock investors who favoured the US markets (47 per cent) ahead of the ASX (29 per cent).

Both generations highlighted tech, energy, real estate and financials as their top sectors, along with specific preferences of healthcare for Millennials and materials for Gen Z.

eToro said that young investors tended to shy away from investments with a higher perceived risk such as CFDs, options and FX.

The biggest barriers cited by those who don’t have an SMSF included not knowing where to begin, not knowing how an SMSF works and preferring someone else to manage their super on their behalf.

36 per cent of Millennials said they contributed between $5,000 and $10,000 to their SMSF annually while 50 per cent of Gen Z contributed between $1,000 and $5,000.

Only 16 per cent of those aged under 35 contribute more than $10,000 to their fund per year.

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Retirement