YFYS

The problem with high expectations is that you have to keep meeting them. And after a year where some funds returned 20 per cent, investors and super members are expecting more, more, more. Investors are relentlessly cheerful creatures. According to Schroders’ latest Global Investor Study, Australian investors (defined here as those expecting to invest the…

As superannuation and life insurance consolidation continues apace, risk firm Retender warns that the government cannot rely on the invisible hand of the market to ensure competitive outcomes. It’s well understood that big super is getting bigger. That’s as a result of both “Your Future Your Super”, which drives consolidation by closing underperforming products and…

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 advent of Your Future Your Super (YFYS) and a new wave of climate regulation means institutional investors are increasingly turning their gaze towards decarbonisation, according to Northern Trust Asset Management. Scott Bennett, Northern Trust Asset Management head of quantitative research and client solutions for Australia and New Zealand, believes YFYS and other regulations have…

The 88,000 members of Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund (ACSRF) are about to be very confused. As are members of some other big super funds. Forty-year-old members in ACSRF’s default MySuper product, LifetimeOne, will be told they just earned an average 20.9 per cent from their super (after fees and taxes for the year…

Despite APRA’s move to name and shame 13 underperforming funds, it’s clear that Your Future Your Super (YFYS) is a work in progress. More needs to be done to make it a true and fair test. Call them the Dirty (Baker’s) Dozen: 13 funds named and publicly shamed for their failure of the YFYS performance…

The public facing aspects of Your Future Your Super (YFYS) risk creating a “pseudo ‘best in show’, according to new research from Deloitte. The research, titled “New ways to judge the past“, highlights a number of mostly unexamined pain points in the YFYS legislation and regulations – notably around the ATO’s YourSuper comparison tool and…

With the advent of Your Future Your Super (YFYS) Australia’s super funds are more closely examining their indexing options. The trick is ensuring member outcomes don’t suffer. Benchmark-relative risk is now top of mind for super funds, with specialist implementation manager Parametric seeing a substantial uptick in the number of funds taking an interest in…

The Government’s ‘Retirement Income Covenant’ is off to a shaky start following initial reactions to its position paper. There is a complete absence of detail for super funds to ponder. While welcoming the Government’s move on the subject and the aim for resulting legislation to be non-prescriptive in nature, three influential and apolitical organisations have…

Trustees should consider “pre-mortem” stress tests and a whole of portfolio approach to the YFYS performance benchmarks to avoid underperformance, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Jonathan Grigg, WTW director for investments, says avoiding test failure will be a high priority for funds, but not one that can override the obligation to act in members’…