David Murray is urging the government not to get bogged down in sectional interests in superannuation when making new policy.
The chair of the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) made the comments at the CFA’s Australia Investment Conference in Sydney, where he hit out at what he saw as the sectional positioning since the publication of the inquiry’s final report, particularly in relation to changes that would bring greater choice to the public.
“The wartime footing of the retail, SMSF and industry funds is staggering and preventing a good debate,” he told delegates at the conference. “We need to focus on things that are in the national interest and away from things that are in the self-interest.”
He gave an example of such sectional interests as an advert he had seen from an industry fund, that told how it was the most popular in fund in its industry sector.
Murray said: “The reality is, is that is a sector that is highly unionised and people in that sector have no choice at all.”
During questioning, Murray revealed that his own superannuation was run in an SMSF with his wife, but that the process of rebalancing his investments, developing themes and diversification was “absolutely exhausting”.
On this theme, he recommended that robo-advice should come with a device that warned the end-user whenever they moved too far from a fundamental asset allocation.
