SMSF names don’t need to be unique – there are many SMSFs called “Smith Superannuation Fund”. People often use their own names as a starting point because the fund name is then easy to remember and makes sense. 

Over our years of experience, we have identified a number of tips for naming your super fund:

1. Don’t start your SMSF name with “The”. You’ll find this confuses government databases – sometimes they will record your fund under “T” and sometimes under the first letter of the rest of the name. This can slow down important things like getting money into your fund or setting up accounts. 
   
   
2. Avoid using punctuation such as apostrophes, commas or exclamation marks unless they form part of your surname as only some databases and systems can handle them. 
   
   
3. If you have a public role and an unusual name, we recommend not using your surname when naming your fund. The name of your fund will be available on publicly searchable databases. Whilst no-one will be able to find out how much money you have in your SMSF they will be able to search for it and see that it exists. 
   
   
4. There is no rule that superannuation funds must have “Superannuation Fund” or “Super Fund” or even “Fund” in their name. Generally, people do so though – it makes it very clear that it’s a super fund.