When you start a self-managed super fund, you and any other person with whom you start the fund – such as your spouse – become SMSF trustees. SMSF trustee responsibilities involve running the fund and must act in accordance with:
- The fund’s trust deed;
- The provisions of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act;
- The Corporations Act (if a SMSF corporate trustee); and
- Other SMSF trustee rules imposed under tax and trust law.
The SMSF trustee responsibilities and SMSF trustee obligations are set out in SMSF trustee obligations.
As an SMSF is in part defined by the SMSF trustee rules (broadly, all fund members must be trustees and all trustees must be members of the fund, let’s start with the permissible trust structures. An SMSF can either have individual trustees or a SMSF corporate trustee. An SMSF with individual trustees looks like this: