Super

Despite their surging popularity, risks lurk within illiquid assets that put member outcomes and portfolio quality at risk – and there’s little regulation for handling them. Illiquid assets – anything from infrastructure and commercial property to venture capital and private equity – are experiencing a surge in popularity as institutional investors face down a future…

ASIC’s investigation into potential “insider trading” at a number of superannuation funds appears to be approaching its end – but the issue seems far from settled. Accusations of “insider trading” at some of Australia’s largest super funds were first made by Liberal MP Tim Wilson, who accused unnamed executives and employees of switching from investment…

APRA’s decision not to include private credit in the Your Future Your Super fixed interest benchmark creates an opportunity for super funds to outperform without compromising tracking error, according to a new report by Atchison Consultants. APRA’s chosen benchmark for fixed interest – the Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+ index – only captures the government and…

Super Rewards is looking to expand its partnership program with big super funds as a way to help them lift member engagement, particularly among women members. The company, launched by former financial services marketer-turned entrepreneur Pascale Helyar-Moray in 2019, allows cash-back incentives from selected retailers across all household spending from day-to-day shopping through to prescription…

Manufacturers and super funds alike need to do more on the burning issue of retirement products. So far, they’ve failed to innovate. A full generation of superannuants are about to enter the decumulation phase, with little idea about what to do with the nestegg they’ve built up. And despite the new retirement income covenant, superannuation…

A significant chunk of super fund advertising could now be on ice, with APRA finding that marketing expenditure could not be shown to have improved members’ financial position. As stapling puts a nail in the coffin of default distribution, many of Australia’s biggest super funds have turned their attention to the dark art of advertising…

It’s probably too early to pick the winners in the transition to net-zero. But the lack of a solid plan at the Federal level is making things even more complicated. The interest in renewable energy has grown substantially over the past 18 months, and particularly in the leadup to COP26, where world leaders aim to…

Australia’s industry funds have launched a full-throated defence of their sector as the national default fund debate heats up. Politics and performance are both at stake. The idea of a national default fund is a bold one, and has been advanced a number of times over the 30-year history of compulsory superannuation in Australia. Its…

Super funds may soon be forced to reveal internal valuations for unlisted assets. But the lesson from the Future Fund is that the new regulations aren’t in anybody’s best interests. While much of government’s recent focus has been on implementing the “Your Future Your Super” performance test, super funds could also soon be subject to…

Geoff Summerhayes, former APRA executive, concedes that while the short-term nature of the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) test is a “challenge” for ESG investment, climate change is a mega-trend that demands more attention. One of the main frustrations around the YFYS performance test has been that climate change does not occur on a regimented…

The merger between Media Super and Cbus has been delayed until the first half of next year due to several factors demonstrating the complexity of these transactions. In its first communication on the merger with its members since the December 2020 announcement, Media Super sent a note to them last week (September 1) advising them…

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg believes the Future Fund should be made Australia’s default superannuation fund. But national superannuation is a political minefield. In conversation with Simon Cowan, research director at the Centre for Independent Studies, Bragg called compulsory superannuation a “fundamentally illiberal, paternalistic policy” and said that the Australian government should “take its responsibilities more…