The federal government has opened up to the idea of fine tuning the superannuation performance test, to account for member outcomes without holding back investment in economic priorities such as the net zero transformation and housing, following the third Treasurer’s Investor Roundtable in Canberra.
In a media release from the Treasurer’s office, it said participants in the roundtable included banks, superannuation funds, venture capital firms and asset managers representing $2.5 trillion in capital.
Among a series of announcements, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has flagged concerns from funds that the benchmark was holding them back on investing in certain areas and asset classes, such as the net zero transformation and housing.
A consultation paper on options to improve the system will be released soon.
Other announcements included:
- Principles for sector decarbonisation plans: participants agreed on a series of principles to guide six sector decarbonisation plans currently under development by the government to support Australia’s net zero plan by 2050;
- Net Zero Economy Authority’s investment facilitation role: the NZEA will be responsible for identifying and coordinating opportunities to boost private capital investment in decarbonisation and the net zero economic transformation;
- The release of the Sovereign Green Bond Framework;
- Defence: private capital will be able to invest in eligible Australian small and medium defence enterprises, EOI will be sought through AusTender in 2024;
- Social Impact Investment: Westpac, CBA, Macquarie, ANZ, NAB, Rest and HESTA agreed to contribute expertise to support the social enterprise sector; and
- Working groups: participants agreed to establish four working groups to continuously address barriers to investment in housing, the net zero transformation, defence and social impact investment.