Super

While Liberals and Labor have sparred for decades, it seems that many Australians believe the ideological conflict waged over superannuation is mostly moot. The super wars have raged unchecked since the introduction of the superannuation guarantee (SG) in the heady days of 1993. But the ideological battles in Parliament and the press have been waged…

UniSuper’s decision to dip its toe into venture capital is all about members. The question is whether the fund will go further down a road that few others have tread.  It’s an investment that would barely move the dial on overall returns, but the $75 million that UniSuper has tipped into early-stage commercialisation manager Uniseed…

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has argued that funds should be permitted to use their operational risk financial reserve (ORFR) to upgrade their systems and prevent future risks earlier. The “blunt” 0.25 per cent of fund capital that funds must hold in their ORFR is now becoming a “very significant sum” for some…

Apostle’s People and Planet fund was tailor-made for Statewide Super’s members – and has interesting implications for an industry trying to meet a new wave of demand for sustainable options.   Two years ago, many institutions were still outsourcing their socially responsible investing (SRI) to AMP Capital or Pendal. But the Boe Pahari controversy saw…

As funds get bigger and bigger – and the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) performance test bites – they’re rethinking everything from alpha generation to their intrinsic investment philosophies. While the increasing size of super funds will benefit them in unlisted markets – where big funds can increasingly play on the same field as global…

Schroders has launched likely the first dedicated fund managed directly to the Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) benchmark for alternative investments. The Global Active Allocation Fund, which has secured a foundation investment mandate from a large super fund, is a multi-asset portfolio with the objective of outperforming the YFYS benchmark applying to alternative investments and…

Before Jack Diamond, a super industry and funds management stalwart, was diagnosed with cancer his friend Josh Funder had come up with the idea of sponsoring an award for innovation in finance. It is called the ‘Diamond Award’. For Funder, the founder and chief executive of Household Capital, an innovative firm itself which lends to…

A mere 13 funds were dispatched by the first round of the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) performance test. Chant West believes the damage could be worse in the choice sector. Later this year, APRA’s performance test will be brought to bear against the choice sector after a dry run on the smaller universe of…

AustralianSuper will build its financial penalty war chest from its administration reserve instead of new member fees, but has left the door open to future admin fee hikes. AustralianSuper has changed its Trust Deed to include a right for its trustee to be paid a limited “Trustee Risk Reserve Fee” (TRRF) in light of the…

Mercer has proposed a slew of tax changes to address the super system’s “inherent bias towards high income earners” and reduce the gender pension gap. Under Mercer’s proposed changes, individuals with balances over $5 million would be required to reduce their balance to that amount and those over the age of 75 would be required…

Helen Hewett, one of the superannuation industry’s finest leaders, the mental health sector’s finest battlers and the women’s movement’s finest warriors has died. When she became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019, her first thought, she said at the time, was to how proud her parents would have been. The last…

Australia’s superannuation system is leading the world in pensions, but the broader market is still missing opportunities on stewardship and technology. The Thinking Ahead Institute’s 2022 Global Pension Assets Study has named Australia the world’s number one pension market, with 20-year pension asset growth of 11.3 per cent per annum in US dollar terms. The…