What is bothering trustees? Investment Magazine conducted an online poll that attracted a substantial and impassioned response, with several respondents sending us emails in addition to the poll pointing out the absence of climate change and hedging to avoid the climate bubble in the choices given below. Another put forward environmental and social governance issues as those which were troubling them the most.
Trustees were asked to rank their top three issues from the following list:
• Stronger Super – implementation and costs
• MySuper licences
• SuperStream implementation
• Low-income earners and equity in taxation
• Equal representation on boards
• Post-retirement income adequacy
• Directors’ personal liability
• Data reporting to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
• Automatic consolidation of accounts
• Competition between funds
Post-retirement income adequacy came out on top with 29 per cent of respondents picking it as their number one issue,
with Stronger Super next at 28 per cent. SuperStream implementation wasn’t considered the most important issue (at 2 per cent), but it captured votes as the second and third most important issue (18 per cent and 19 per cent respectively).
The low-income earners and equity in taxation came in at 4 per cent, as did directors’ personal liability.
View from the top
We also directly asked industry players for their choices. Here are their top responses:
PAULINE VAMOS, CEO, ASFA
• Getting a MySuper licence
• Stronger Super implementation
• New era of competition between funds – what does that mean?
ANGELA EMSLIE, CHAIR, HESTA
• Issue of low-income earners and equity in taxation system; many of our members are low-income women who need some support for their retirements. Greatly concerned that co-contribution would be changed.
• The whole issue of the representative trustees system and the value that brings to industry super; we would like to see recognition of the value it adds. results for industry super speaks for itself.
• Adequacy is a major concern; whether we will have adequate income in retirement.
MAGED GIRGIS, PARTNER, MINTER ELLISON
• Directors’ personal liability
• Changes to method by which default funds are specified in modern awards and removal of grandfathering provisions
• FoFA (for retail funds)
NICK SHERRY, CONSULTANT, CITI
My picks are subject to the caveat that for some funds some issues are more important than others due to variable impacts.
• Stronger Super implementation
• MySuper licences
• Low-income earners and equity in tax
PETER LAMBERT, CEO, LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPER
• Lack of trust in super system through many years of poor returns
• Threat of SMSFs as an option for members who want to exit a trustee-based system
• Increasing regulatory pressure, whether that be through more governance or otherwise.
