SMSF trustees stick with bank cash

The trustees of Australia's 528,000 self-managed superannuation funds have maintained their preference for cash and term deposit holdings, despite ongoing low rates.

The latest Australian Taxation Office data on the SMSF sector shows that the number of people in self-managed funds passed the one million mark for the first time during the March quarter.

SMSFs hold a total of $156.2 billion in cash accounts and term deposits - the second largest asset allocation in the sector after shares.

Cash and term deposit holdings increased by 7.2 per cent over the 12 months to March.

Total SMSF assets increased by 13.4 per cent to $558 billion over the same period.

SMSF investment in residential property increased by 17.2 per cent to $20.5 billion over the 12 months to March

Borrowings increased by seven per cent to $2.8 billion over the same period, representing 0.5 per cent of total SMSF assets.