At the moment we can ask these tough questions without the risk of not having an answer. The worst scenario is to do nothing.” Through another poll, delegates were asked for their estimates of how much it would cost to implement SuperStream at their funds. The majority, 39 per cent, said between $500,000 and $2 million; 21 per cent said more than $2 million; 17 per cent more than $5000; 1 per cent said zero; and 22 per cent were unsure, indicating that many funds had not seriously considered what they need to do to adapt to the reform. There are two types of cost involved in SuperStream, Gracanin said. Implementing new technology but also change management. Business development managers will need to be sent to stakeholders to explain the changes and gain support for them and client services teams will need training, he said. policy forecast David Haynes, project director at AIST, forecasted the impact of the Stronger Super reforms on superannuation administration. He said the industry regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, will probably be empowered to set standards in the future.

It will interact more with superannuation funds than banking or insurance companies and will be “a little less avuncular” than it has been in the past. The SuperStream reform would bring a long overdue modernisation to super fund administration systems. “Many of us still realise it is the Achilles Heel of the industry and we need to do a lot to bring it in line with world’s best practice,” Haynes said. During the reform consultations there was a “universal view” that operational reserves should not be mandated on a one-size-fits-all basis but take into consideration the particular conditions each fund operates in. “A fund with unit pricing will have greater risks than one with a crediting rate methodology.” This countered the view, supported by some industry professionals, that a reserve equivalent to 50 basis points of a fund’s capital be set aside. “We don’t think this makes a lot of sense given the risks that different funds face,” Haynes said. In an audience poll conducted electronically at the outset of the conference, 73 per cent of attendees said the expected the Stronger Super reforms to result in better outcomes for super fund members, while 23 per cent disagreed and the remainder were undecided.