APRA

The Your Future Your Super Bill continues to be roundly criticised by the industry after the deadline for comment has passed and notwithstanding doubts about its passage to legislation. Proposed regulations, requiring comment by May 26, included two concessions to the barrage of criticism from almost every quarter of the industry – from the profit-to-member…

Nobody questions the need to fix super, although there appears little consensus on what needs to be changed and how. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s October “recovery” Budget delivered an unwelcome surprise to the $3 trillion super industry: a slew of reforms under the title ‘Your Future Your Super’ which could fundamentally alter retirement outcomes. The changes,…

KPMG believes $50 billion is about the minimum size for an APRA-regulated fund when the dust settles. Helen Rowell, the retiring deputy chair of APRA, believes it should be $30 billion. The figures were bandied about at the CMSF conference where mergers were discussed in some detail. Leeanne Turner, who has just been through one…

After repeated and universal criticism from all major super industry bodies, the Government has agreed to two amendments to its performance benchmark as part of the Government’s proposed Your Future, Your Super legislation. The Government announced last week (April 28) that it would allow the inclusion of infrastructure and unlisted property as well as administration…

If APRA wants to continue to encourage super fund mergers the regulator needs to make some changes to how it goes about its approvals process, according to one chief executive who is going through the process of having a successor fund transfer (TFR). Speaking at last weeks’ annual ASFA conference (on February 11), Leeanne Turner,…

The hybrid securities market felt the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis in March, when two issues were withdrawn and another issuer deferred redemptions. But last week Macquarie Bank relaunched its hybrid offer, offering a substantially higher margin than the rate on offer a few months ago. Macquarie Bank Capital Notes 2 was originally launched on…

Strongly divided views about the wisdom of using the early release from superannuation have prompted large numbers of fund members to seek the advice of financial planners. Losing insurance cover, reducing retirement benefits and crystallising losses are the main issues commentators have highlighted. According to AMP’s technical adviser support team, early release of super was…