Geoff Warren

Big and small funds alike can do well for their members, and what’s more important than size is how they use it. But the risks of having a highly concentrated industry have been “underplayed”, according to ANU academic Geoff Warren.

The superannuation industry is grappling with the complexity of delivering retirement solutions. Perhaps the only way to assess how well they work in the future is to start assessing them right now.

The Albanese Government has begun to explore the potential negative impacts of super fund consolidation. The question is whether a super fund can ever be too big to fail.

Australia’s super funds are racing to achieve massive size in the understanding that it will create untold benefits for members. But “a little but of circumspection and caution” is required. “People seem to be taking it as a fact that you just need to be bigger, and that it’s obvious you need to be bigger…