A growing super system that is increasing in complexity and systemic importance warrants a better performance assessment framework. But the recent consultation on the YFYS performance test only focuses on modifying the existing test without changing its essential nature.
The $80 billion Mercer Super has delivered a fourth consecutive year of double-digit returns to most members of its SmartPath lifecycle product. Global equities did a lot of heavy lifting, but chief investment officer Graeme Miller tells Investment Magazine that the fund is now looking further afield for returns.
New research from CoreData and Conexus Financial finds retirement satisfaction with super funds recorded its sharpest plunge on record this year, and it’s not only members approaching retirement who feel let down. The Best Possible Retirement study shows that pre-retirees’ expectations of how much they’ll need to be comfortable has leapt, and members already well into retirement also feel abandoned.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has appointed APRA insider Therese McCarthy Hockey and former Labor Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury to the prudential regulator to replace Margaret Cole, citing “increasing scale and complexity in the financial system”. But Bradbury’s appointment has sparked swift backlash from the Liberal Party.
Both APRA and ASIC have told super funds they need to adopt a greater risk appetite and be more innovative in how they fulfil their obligations under the Retirement Income Covenant. In this episode of the Pension Policy Podcast, MLC’s director of customer innovation Ashton Jones tells Retirement Magazine editor Simon Hoyle that his definition of “innovation” … Read more
Colonial First State chief investment officer Jonathan Armitage says a shift away from reliance on US mega-cap tech stocks is reshaping portfolio resilience, with emerging markets, private debt and catastrophe bonds helping to drive returns across the portfolio.
A view that the US stock market is overvalued and equity risk premia will be lower over the long term has driven New Zealand Super to lower the return expectations for its reference portfolio following its recent five-yearly review of the benchmark.
Robeco global chief investment officer Anton Eser believes AI is the most significant transformation in asset management since passive investing took hold – and that the winners and losers will be determined within the next six to twelve months. Speaking on the final episode of the inaugural Investment Magazine CIO Series, Eser argued that what separates the … Read more
The next phase of member engagement will not be won on returns or communications volume. CoreData research shows members want confidence and practical guidance, and the funds that deliver it at key life moments stand to gain the most. And even though fewer members switched funds in 2025, one in four say they still might. The retention battle has not been won, it has simply become less visible.
Australia’s super funds are not yet equipped to assist all member types into suitable retirement solutions. From dormant members to those seeking trustee direction, the decision support services needed to cater for a diverse member base remain either only partially formed, or missing entirely.
The prudential regulator has no successor or interim appointee to replace deputy chair Margaret Cole, who stepped down today, leaving the more than $3 trillion APRA-regulated super sector with no supervisor-in-chief as scrutiny on its platform segment grows.
Whenever super fund CIOs are asked what they’re doing about AI risk, “diversifying” is always the answer. But as cross-portfolio exposures to the thematic grow and grow, that answer is no longer good enough.
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Investment Magazine provides in-depth, monthly analysis of trends and developments for all the businesses in which superannuation funds engage‚ including asset allocation, investment manager selection, custody and fund accounting, member administration, group insurance and compliance.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
