Insurance Needs Analysis Template: Fill & Download for Free

Without having a financial services licence then an Accountant cannot provide advice on the SMSF investment Strategy other than tax advice and possibly providing a sample document. Only a licenced adviser can provide in depth advice on the asset allocation and more specific shares, property, managed funds, bullion etc.Here are 6 important considerations in establishing your SMSF investment strategy.[1][1][1][1]Liquidity Needs: What life stage are each of the members in?The members’ personal circumstances and life-stage will have the most important impact on your SMSF investment strategy. If you are all 20 years out from retirement, you may choose to invest for growth and ride with volatility of the share and property markets to benefit from the risk/return premium attributed to those sectors which are less liquid than cash and bonds. If however one or more of the members is approaching retirement or using a Transition to Retirement Pension strategy you may choose a more cautious approach to ensure sufficient income is available for pensions regardless of market ups and downs. That requires more active management to maintain some liquidity still seek a decent return through a diversified portfolio. For example we always recommend 12-36 months pensions are retained in cash or fixed interest to avoid selling assets in a downturn and reducing your capital value.What’s the members’ risk toleranceThe ability of all involved to sleep comfortably at night without worrying about their investments should always be taken into consideration regardless of your age. If you or another member have no experience or confidence in certain market sectors, then short-term your investment strategy should be tailored accordingly. But you should then seek more information, education and guidance to build your knowledge and then your confidence in those missing sectors so that you can adopt a well diversified strategy long-term. It is generally accepted that the greater the risk of an asset, the greater the potential returns but this risk abates as time passes so riskier assets can pay off handsomely over time with less risk than perceived short-term. A portfolio designed to reduce your concerns while not providing optimal returns provides THE SLEEP FACTOR!Asset allocationInvesting in the right asset classes is a major factor in the returns you will receive. Aussie Equities and Cash are not a full solution long-term. Cash and TD rates are currently low and our share market had a poor year last year and our economy is struggling while international equities, property and infrastructure are benefiting from improving economies, low interest rates and the dropping Aussie dollar. Your asset allocation should be reviewed annually and rebalanced to account for the returns from various asset classes and their future forecast. We are not saying make dramatic changes but do take tilts to certain sectors that will benefit from the current economic climate.Avoid sector biasThe Big 4 Banks, Woolworths and Telstra do not make a diversified portfolio! Once you have decided which asset classes to invest in, it is important to diversify within those asset classes. Frequently I see investment portfolios with a narrow range of large Australian companies just like mentioned above providing very poor diversification – and leaving the overall investment portfolio heavily reliant on the fortunes of one or two sectors. Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF) set up for the benefit of control without the willingness to take advice or learn about portfolio design, frequently lack diversification with an over reliance on one property, Australian shares and/or cash. With Control comes responsibility to learn and adapt.Tax efficiencyOften the spur to look at complex and structured investments near June 30th is the tax consideration. The amount of tax you pay on investment has a major impact on your SMSF investment strategy. Here is the tax basics for SMSFs:15% tax on earnings and capital gains on assets held for less than 12 months in accumulation phase10% tax on Capital Gains on assets held for greater than 12 months in accumulation phase0% tax on earnings and capital gains on assets sold in pension phaseFor example, if you were lucky enough to have bought 1000 CBA shares during the GFC at $30 and sell them now at $90 in accumulation phase you will pay $6,000 in tax with a net profit of $54,000. While if you were lucky to move in to pension phase you receive the full $60,000 tax-free. Tax is an important consideration and an understanding of the tax impacts which you purchase your asset in, and the tax payable when you dispose of the asset, are very important but should not be the sole driver of your Self Managed Superannuation Fund investment strategy.Insurance Needs of the MembersTrustees of SMSFs now have to consider, as part of its Investment strategy “whether the trustees of the fund should hold a contract of insurance that provides insurance cover for one or more members of the fund.”This is a significant addition to the previous provisions, and has been prompted by the Super System Review panel noting that less than 13% of SMSFs have insurance. This is a subject on its own so please refer to my earlier article for guidance Self Managed Super Funds must include an Insurance Needs Analysis as part of the fund’s SMSF Investment Strategy.[2][2][2][2]It is important to update your investment strategy on an annual basis or more often if making large contribution or large investments to make sure you are maximising the probability of achieving your financial goals whilst reducing the risk of capital losses.You can seek professional advice to help with your investment strategy, but remember: as trustee, you are still ultimately responsible for your fund’s investment decisions so next time you sign off a template provided by your administrator remember it is you that are responsible not them.Please contact us on 02 9894 1844 or [email protected] if you would like to review your current SMSF investment strategy, or need assistance in preparing an SMSF investment strategy that matches your members’ needs.Footnotes[1] 6 Key Considerations for your SMSF Investment Strategy[1] 6 Key Considerations for your SMSF Investment Strategy[1] 6 Key Considerations for your SMSF Investment Strategy[1] 6 Key Considerations for your SMSF Investment Strategy[2] Self Managed Super Funds must include an Insurance Needs Analysis as part of the fund’s SMSF Investment Strategy.[2] Self Managed Super Funds must include an Insurance Needs Analysis as part of the fund’s SMSF Investment Strategy.[2] Self Managed Super Funds must include an Insurance Needs Analysis as part of the fund’s SMSF Investment Strategy.[2] Self Managed Super Funds must include an Insurance Needs Analysis as part of the fund’s SMSF Investment Strategy.

The consumer legal industry is a 96B dollar market that has been "ripe for discussion" for about 400+ years. Here are the angles for disruption and the companies that lead them:DIY Law (LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer) - 15% of this industry can be reduced to software. These companies create do-it-yourself solutions for consumers that do not run afoul of UPL (unauthorized practice of law) statutes.Digital Delivery of Legal Advice (Pearl, LawDingo, LawZam) - Legal advice can be transmitted digitally. These companies use technology to enable consumers to consume legal advice digitally and remotely.Online Dispute Resolution (Modria - Online Dispute Resolution service, eQuibbly) - Just as legal advice can be transmitted digitally, mediations can take place online. Adversaries enter a digital forum to resolve small disputes before moderators.Legal Plan / Insurance (LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer, ARAG) - Most of the legal needs in this segment require the involvement of a lawyer. Attorneys' fees come with a high price tag. Companies offer "forced savings" solutions in the form of legal insurance or plan to help consumers digest this cost.Service Marketplaces (AttorneyFee, Avvo, LawGives) - An alternative solution to the problem stated in #3 is to create a place for small service providers to compete among themselves on catering to customers with diverse needs.Lawsuit Financing (Oasis Finance, LightHouse Legal) - In the case of Personal Injury, plaintiffs need money to live while the case is being litigated. These companies loan plaintiffs money to help them pay for their day-to-day expenses.The other half of the legal industry serve businesses. Here are the angles for disruption in that market:Legal Research (Judicata, Fastcase.com, Lex Machina) - There are 7M cases in the American corpus juris. These companies make the process of searching for relevant case law more efficient.E-Discovery (Relativity,Iris Data) - These companies make the process of gathering, organizing and reviewing discoverable documents more efficient.Contract Analysis (Kiiac) - It's hard to review the hundreds of clauses that make up commercial contracts. These companies create software to separate unique clauses from boilerplate clauses to help the review identify important clauses.Contract Forms Library (Docracy, WhichDraft) - Like LegalZoom, but for businesses. There are template contracts that businesses can safely customize for common use cases.SaaS for Law Firms - Aside from legal research, e-discovery and contract management, companies create other software that uniquely address the needs of law firms big (SkyAnalytics) and small (Total Attorneys (product)).For further reading, subscribe to eLawyering Redux, an excellent blog written by one of earliest thought leaders in the space (Richard Granat).

Ideally, an insurance agent would have the capacity to investigate each case and conclude whether it is genuine or not. However, this process is not only time consuming, but costly. Sourcing and funding the skilled labor required to review each of the thousands of claims that are filed a day is simply unfeasible.The most efficient strategy so far is a computerized system. However, the technologies available in the past would only allow for rudimentary analysis with limited accuracy. Even given the identification of a potentially fraudulent claim, an insurance agent would then need to engage in further investigation.Traditional computerized systems searched for red flags, otherwise known as fraudulent indicators. These were preprogrammed, meaning the fraudulent claims had to fit into a particular template or else they would not be recognized. More advanced technologies have since been developed and allow for a more dynamic analysis of insurance claim data.Machine Learning: A Big Step in Fraud DetectionMachine Learning is a part of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The idea behind Artificial Intelligence is to create a computerized system that can engage in complex analysis and not only replace human input but improve upon it. Machine Learning applies AI and “gives” systems the ability to learn and improve from experience, with no extra programming. In order to do this, systems analyze large, labeled data sets. AI may take over menial tasks and free human agents to do more complex analysis.What are the benefits that Machine Learning can bring for the evaluation and resolution of insurance frauds?All claims suspected of fraud will be more accurately detected.Data is processed in very short periods of time.The system can demonstrate where connections can exist between various factors that may be imperceptible to human eyes.The continuous revision of this type of schemes and the application of variations in data analysis will allow anticipating the discovery of new fraud schemes.As we have seen, fraud detection is a knowledge-intensive activity that allows classifying correctly whether the transaction or claim is legitimate or fraudulent.The popular form of machine learning applied to the insurance industry is called deep anomaly detection (Deepchecks). Anomaly detection works by analyzing normal, genuine claims made by the customer and forming a model of what a typical claim looks like. This model is then applied to large data sets.Other aspects of artificial intelligence can also be built with this method of anomaly detection. One such development is predictive analytics, which can be used to design the program to further reduce the labor load. Predictive analytics work through a similar method of machine learning; however, the initial data set will be more specific. The program will build a model that not only searches for the features of typical or atypical claims but also analyzes the features of an atypical claim that it designated a fraudulent indicator.