New ASFA head Mary Delahunty says the association will collaborate with other industry bodies and leverage its large operational knowledge base to create more value for the mix of retail and industry funds and service providers that make up its membership. But how many voices does super need?
Australia’s largest super fund thinks its three million members will be better off with a single “account for life” and will soon bring a longevity risk solution to market to help them conquer fear of running out.
The $170 billion super fund wants to be a lot bigger, and its teams are trying to get ahead of infrastructural demands from within the fund to win back basis points that can be returned to members.
The ups and downs of 2023 have shifted the fortunes of active managers in the eyes of the big institutional investors that hold the keys to trillions of dollars in retirement savings. But they’re still fretting volatility and valuations.
Even the biggest fund managers have to change with the times, and the US$750 billion Fidelity is staring down a world that’s moving beyond the traditional investment landscape in which its business was built.
Big super funds still aren’t really involved in the large nation-building projects that could make Australia a renewables powerhouse. Getting them to “cross the Rubicon” will take initiative from infrastructure managers and leadership from Australia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Everybody and their dog has an idea for putting the Future Fund to work beyond its core mandate.
But the best idea for getting it to invest more in Australia’s economy is probably already being done.
The first chair of the Future Fund has rubbished “populist pleas” to use the money in Australia’s sovereign wealth fund for pet causes, saying that they are “infused with an unrealistic optimism of the likelihood of success”.
The prudential regulator will undertake another review of how superannuation funds treat their unlisted assets, with a special focus on “valuation and liquidity management practices” as they come to account for larger and larger chunks of the portfolio.
The former chairman of IFM Investors and Industry Super Australia has been appointed to the Future Fund Board of Guardians as the government looks to “maximise” the role Australia’s sovereign wealth fund plays while preserving its independence.
