Cuts to red tape and greater market freedoms in superannuation have been promised by Senator Matthias Cormann if the Liberal Party wins the election.

These will open up the system of default funds for industry sectors and will also face the imposition of independent trustees.

He has also reiterated his party’s promise that there will be “no unexpected changes” to tax in superannuation.

Cormann gave Investment Magazine a shopping list of his desired changes to superannuation.

“We’ll ensure genuine competition in the default-fund market, improve corporate governance arrangements for industry funds in line with Cooper Review recommendations, revisit concessional caps and super co-contribution benefits for low-income earners as soon as the budget is in a strong enough position to afford it.”

Other changes will ensure those who make inadvertent and genuine errors breaching various caps are not hit with excessive tax penalties, and he hopes to remove regulatory barriers that prevent retirement product innovation.

Tax, however, will be left alone.

“As we have said, we will not make any unexpected detrimental changes to superannuation-policy settings, tax related or otherwise.”

Cormann has also promised open-market reform for financial services generally.

“We will immediately act to remove some of the unnecessary red tape which Labor has imposed on the financial services sector and which is already pushing up the cost of advice, while reducing choice and competition in the advice industry.”

Also on his hit list is the abolishment of the two year opt-in requirement for financial advisors, streamlining annual reporting requirements, improving the definition of the best interest duty and providing certainty around the capacity to provide scaled advice.