YFYS

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s proxy reforms have been blown out of the water. The question that remains is why they were ever proposed in the first place. The decision to disallow Frydenberg’s proxy advice regulations marks the end of a deeply weird saga where Treasury tried to annihilate an entire industry – that barely anybody had…

Opposition to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s proxy advice reforms is growing, with one key Liberal senator questioning his use of the regulations power and warning of a possible disallowance. While not disagreeing with the reforms in principle, senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – head of the standing committee for scrutiny of delegated legislation – questioned why Frydenberg had…

Labor wants to “super-charge” the Australian economy by putting our largest pool of capital to work both at home and away. But on Your Future, Your Super, they won’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water. The Your Future Your Super (YFYS) reforms represent one of the most daring political plays by the…

The problems with Your Future Your Super (YFYS) run deep – among them, how super funds will manage ESG within the confines of low tracking error strategies. But it’s not the end of the road. Under the YFYS reforms, implementation manager Parametric believes tracking error will face downwards pressure as funds try to stay on…

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has sidestepped the Senate to push through controversial reforms to proxy advice, casting the future of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) into doubt. The reforms were pushed through using regulations powers in late December, at a time of year when much of the financial press is winding down and after…

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…

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…

If super fund investment staff didn’t appreciate the importance of indices prior to the introduction of YFYS, they should do now. With fixed income, the indices tell an interesting, and in some ways counterintuitive, story. Notwithstanding the continued popularity of absolute returns-based portfolios, especially with the end investors, the new fund performance test implemented by…

The accusations of insider trading hurled at Australia’s big super funds are explosive in nature – and pose something of a headscratcher. Regardless of their weight, reputations are at stake. The revelations made by ASIC on Wednesday last week (October 27) are a tough wake-up call for an industry that prides itself on its duty…

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…