Which asset classes are popular with SMSFs?

In this guide

What are the most popular asset classes among SMSFs?
How many SMSFs hold each type of asset?
How does asset allocation vary depending on accumulation or retirement phase?
How does SMSF balance relate to asset allocation choice?
New limits on borrowing to buy residential property
How many SMSFs hold crypto assets?
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Greater choice of investments is one of the many reasons people decide to establish their own self-managed super fund (SMSF).

In the past, SMSFs have been criticised for being too heavily invested in cash and fixed income, and for having little diversity among their equity holdings. But this has changed over the past decade and SMSF trustees are increasingly adopting a diverse range of asset allocation strategies over a range of investments.

Learn more about the importance of asset allocation, and how SMSFs invest.

What are the most popular asset classes among SMSFs?

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) publishes comprehensive data on asset allocation every financial year, based on the lodgment of SMSF annual returns. Because of the lag between the end of the financial year and when trustees need to lodge, and the time it takes to collate the data, the latest complete annual figures are for the 2024–25 financial year.

The ATO also publishes quarterly estimates, shown in the table below and sorted by the asset class with the highest allocation. Figures from September 2025 onwards are extrapolated from 2024–25 return data rather than drawn from lodged returns for those quarters.

Asset type	June 2026 ($m)	As a % of total Australian and overseas assets
Listed shares	282,818	25.54%
Cash and term deposits	180,642	16.32%
Unlisted trusts	137,269	12.40%
Non-residential real property	115,511	10.43%
Limited recourse borrowing arrangements	83,833	7.57%
Listed trusts	80,648	7.28%
Other managed investments	67,366	6.08%
Residential real property	60,888	5.50%
Other assets	30,339	2.74%
Overseas shares	23,042	2.08%
Debt securities	13,277	1.20%
Unlisted shares	12,699	1.15%
Loans	7,017	0.63%
Crypto assets	5,010	0.45%
Other overseas assets	2,911	0.26%
Overseas managed investments	2,429	0.22%
Collectables and personal use assets	774	0.07%
Overseas residential real property	385	0.03%
Overseas non-residential real property	228	0.02%
Insurance policy	90	0.01%
Total Australian and overseas assets	1,107,175	100.00%
Less borrowings	32,023	2.89%
Less other liabilities	11,186	1.01%
Total net Australian and overseas assets	1,063,966	96.10%

Source: ATO SMSF quarterly statistical report, June 2026. Borrowings and other liabilities are shown as a percentage of total assets and are not included in the asset list above.

Listed shares are the largest asset class by value, representing 25.54% of all SMSF assets. That is followed by cash and term deposits at 16.32%, unlisted trusts at 12.40% and non-residential real property at 10.43%. Total SMSF assets passed $1.1 trillion in the June 2026 quarter.

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How many SMSFs hold each type of asset?

Allocation by value only tells you where the money is. It doesn’t tell you how many funds hold each asset, which is a different question. A handful of very large funds can lift an asset class up the table without many trustees owning it at all.

Asset type	% of SMSFs holding, 2023–24	% of SMSFs holding, 2019–20
Cash and term deposits	96.7%	96.7%
Listed shares	56.3%	57.6%
Listed trusts	36.6%	33.1%
Unlisted trusts	23.8%	23.1%
Other managed investments	14.1%	11.9%
Limited recourse borrowing arrangements	11.3%	12.1%
Non-residential real property	10.9%	11.8%
Residential real property	10.1%	10.3%

Source: ATO, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2023–24.

Almost every SMSF holds cash, because every fund needs a bank account. Beyond that, listed shares are held by 56.3% of funds, and the numbers fall away quickly.

Listed trusts are the only category growing meaningfully, from 33.1% of funds in 2019–20 to 36.6% in 2023–24. This is where exchange-traded funds (ETFs) mostly sit in the ATO’s categories, and it is consistent with what SMSF administrators are seeing. Class data shows 35.5% of the SMSFs on its platform held at least one ETF in June 2026, and that ETFs were 7.2% of their assets, making them the fifth-largest asset class by value.

See the 20 most popular ETFs invested in by SMSFs.

How does asset allocation vary depending on accumulation or retirement phase?

The ATO also splits asset allocation between funds in accumulation phase and funds in retirement phase. Retirement phase funds held 65% of all SMSF assets at 30 June 2024, unchanged from the year before.

Asset type	Accumulation phase	Retirement phase
Listed shares	17.2%	32.5%
Cash and term deposits	17.2%	16.7%
Limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs)	17.0%	1.2%
Unlisted trusts	10.8%	13.1%
Non-residential real property	10.3%	9.9%
Residential real property	7.2%	4.4%
Listed trusts	5.6%	7.1%
Other managed investments	5.1%	6.9%
Other assets	3.0%	2.5%
Overseas shares	2.1%	1.7%
Unlisted shares	1.7%	1.0%
Crypto assets	0.8%	<0.1%
Debt securities	0.7%	1.7%
Loans	0.7%	0.7%
Overseas managed investments	0.3%	0.2%
Other overseas assets	0.2%	0.3%
Collectables and personal use assets	0.1%	<0.1%
Insurance policy	<0.1%	<0.1%
Overseas residential real property	<0.1%	<0.1%
Overseas non-residential real property	<0.1%	<0.1%
Total	100%	100%

Source: ATO, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2023–24. Asset allocations by fund phase at 30 June 2024.

The two phases look more alike than you might expect. The biggest difference is listed shares, which make up 32.5% of assets in retirement phase funds against 17.2% in accumulation phase.

As members get older, and their minimum pension payments grow as a percentage of assets, retirement phase funds need enough liquid assets to meet those payments. There is also a tendency to seek out assets that pay higher yields, which helps explain the popularity of listed shares with high dividend yields and franking credits.

The other large gap runs the other way. Limited recourse borrowing arrangements are 17.0% of accumulation phase assets and just 1.2% in retirement phase, and 95% of SMSFs with borrowings were in accumulation phase. Residential property shows the same pattern more mildly, at 7.2% against 4.4%.

Cash is the surprise. At 17.2% and 16.7% the two phases are almost identical, so the common assumption that retirees hold more cash than people still building their super does not show up in the national figures.

How does SMSF balance relate to asset allocation choice?

The ATO breaks down asset allocation by SMSF balance size, which also shapes how funds invest.

Most SMSFs sit in a fairly narrow range. Funds holding between $500,000 and $1 million are the largest single group at 24.9% of all SMSFs, followed by $1 million to $2 million at 23.8% and $2 million to $5 million at 18.3%. Fewer than 6% of funds hold more than $5 million.

The table below therefore shows the six balance bands from $50,000 to $5 million, which between them cover 89% of SMSFs. The ATO publishes 11 bands in total, but the ones above and below this range apply to relatively few funds.

The clearest pattern is cash. The lower the balance of an SMSF, the higher the allocation to cash and term deposits, from more than 40% for funds under $200,000 down to 16.4% for funds between $2 million and $5 million.

Listed shares run between 17.1% and 19.6% for funds up to $1 million, then rise to 28.0% for funds between $2 million and $5 million.

Limited recourse borrowing arrangements peak sharply in the $500,000 to $1 million band at 22.4% of assets, then fall away as balances grow.

Crypto assets are concentrated in the smallest funds, at 8.3% for funds between $50,000 and $100,000, falling to 0.3% by the time a fund reaches $2 million. This could reflect the greater acceptance of crypto among younger people who have not yet had time to build their account balance.

Asset type	$50k to $100k	$100k to $200k	$200k to $500k	$500k to $1m	$1m to $2m	$2m to $5m
Listed trusts	3.0%	4.0%	6.4%	6.9%	8.3%	8.1%
Unlisted trusts	5.1%	8.0%	7.9%	6.8%	9.1%	12.3%
Insurance policy	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%
Other managed investments	1.9%	2.4%	4.1%	4.8%	6.6%	7.5%
Cash and term deposits	41.3%	40.3%	33.1%	19.8%	18.3%	16.4%
Debt securities	0.2%	0.3%	0.5%	0.6%	0.9%	1.3%
Loans	2.0%	2.8%	1.6%	0.6%	0.4%	0.5%
Listed shares	18.5%	17.1%	19.6%	18.7%	23.9%	28.0%
Unlisted shares	2.2%	2.4%	1.5%	0.8%	0.7%	0.8%
Limited recourse borrowing arrangements	<0.1%	0.1%	5.2%	22.4%	12.0%	4.0%
Non-residential real property	0.6%	1.1%	3.6%	5.2%	7.5%	10.5%
Residential real property	2.5%	2.1%	4.3%	7.4%	7.2%	5.6%
Collectables and personal use assets	0.5%	0.5%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Other assets	9.3%	8.6%	6.1%	3.1%	2.5%	2.4%
Crypto assets	8.3%	6.1%	2.9%	1.0%	0.5%	0.3%
Overseas shares	3.6%	3.2%	2.3%	1.4%	1.4%	1.7%
Overseas non-residential real property	0.1%	0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%
Overseas residential real property	0.5%	0.5%	0.2%	0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%
Overseas managed investments	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%
Other overseas assets	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: ATO SMSF quarterly statistical report, June 2026. Asset distribution and fund distribution by fund size, 2024–25 return data. Each band excludes the lower figure and includes the upper, so “$50k to $100k” covers funds above $50,000 and up to $100,000.

New limits on borrowing to buy residential property

Limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) are how an SMSF borrows to buy an asset, most often property. They are 7.57% of all SMSF assets and were held by 11.3% of funds in 2023–24.

The rules changed on 10 August 2026. Under the new arrangements, real property acquired through a new LRBA must generally qualify as business real property. For ordinary residential investment property, this effectively removes new LRBA borrowing as an option. Existing LRBAs, qualifying refinancing and eligible pre-commencement contracts are not affected.

The change matters because residential property dominated LRBA activity. According to Class, 92.7% of LRBA holdings by count related to residential property in 2024–25, against 7.3% for commercial property. Class identified 3,672 new residential property LRBA holdings that year, up 46.8% from 2,501 two years earlier, with the sharpest growth among newly established funds.

This does not mean SMSFs can no longer hold residential property. They can still buy it outright, and Class found 52.3% of residential property holdings were not held under an LRBA in 2024–25.

The tables above show where the change is likely to be felt. LRBAs are 22.4% of assets for funds between $500,000 and $1 million, and 17.0% of assets in accumulation phase funds against 1.2% in retirement phase.

How many SMSFs hold crypto assets?

Crypto attracts more attention than its size warrants. It was 0.45% of all SMSF assets in June 2026, worth $5.0 billion, down slightly from $5.2 billion a year earlier but around three times the level of March 2024.

In the most recent complete annual data, 2.6% of SMSFs held crypto. Class reports a similar picture from its own book, with 2.2% of the SMSFs it administers holding crypto in June 2026, down from 2.3% a year earlier. Two independent datasets pointing the same way is a reasonable basis for saying take-up has not moved much.

What stands out is not how many funds hold crypto, but how much those funds hold. The average crypto holding was $198,716 while the median was $80,966, and 2.4% of all SMSFs had half or more of their assets in crypto, with 0.4% holding nothing else. Set against the 2.6% of funds that hold any crypto at all, that suggests most crypto-holding SMSFs are not holding a small satellite position.

Crypto is also concentrated in the smallest funds, at 8.3% of assets for funds between $50,000 and $100,000, falling to 0.3% by the time a fund reaches $2 million.

Learn more about cryptocurrency investments in an SMSF.

If you’d like to learn more about the most popular ETFs, Australian and international shares, managed funds and alternative investments, see the following guides:

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