New analysis of the retirement landscape contained in The Conexus Institute’s 2026 State of Super Report makes it clear that if profit-to-member funds do not lift their game quickly they face losing high-value members to retirement options preferred by financial advisers.
The Retirement Income Covenant has been in place for more than three years, but last week the chair of the country’s largest superannuation fund was reported as saying there is still only “a growing recognition” that funds need to do more to support members in retirement. It is a scenario familiar to anyone who’s closely watched any industry attempting fundamental change, but that is cold comfort to members.
AustralianSuper is planning on boosting both its allocation to private equity and the number of external managers it uses in the “highly attractive asset class” amidst a broader shift in how super funds are investing across the private markets.
UniSuper’s digital advice offering has seen the service replicate the output of 18 human advisers since launching it last year. But the $166 billion fund, which expanded its external advice offering last year, says its digital advice proposition is complementary, not competing with human-led advice.
The $210 billion super fund, which has historically pursued direct investments in chunky infrastructure assets, is considering a return to pooled vehicles to broaden its opportunity set and boost its returns. The change was kickstarted by new CIO Simon Warner before he took on the role.
Newly elected Liberal leader Angus Taylor faces an uphill battle to keep the Coalition from splitting apart again and to reinvent the party as a viable force in politics. Superannuation might not immediately top the policy to-do list, but when it does get there it will need to bring fresh ideas to serve the best interests of fund members.
Aware Super has axed TelstraSuper’s entire investment team, including its acting CIO Kate Misic, as a result of the merger between the two funds. A TelstraSuper spokesperson confirmed to Investment Magazine that a “decision was made not to duplicate TelstraSuper’s investment functions” due to Aware’s existing 150-person strong investment team across Australia and the UK.
Since taking the reins of the once-mighty wealth manager AMP, chief executive Alexis George has overseen a rationalisation of the business and a rebuilding of staff morale, product quality and brand. But a 20 per cent increase in underlying profit in her final full-year result as CEO left the market cold.
Australia’s profit-to-member funds are trying to attract and retain members through ever-increasing marketing expenditure when the data suggests retail platforms are winning flows by sharpening their focus on digital systems and adviser serviceability.
Super fund chair remuneration is up this year, averaging around $140,000 as the demands on them and the complexity of superannuation funds increase. With the need for genuinely long-term planning and governance, and on overarching fiduciary duty to members, the role of chair is a unique position in financial services and requires particular skills to do well.
Debby Blakey is set to leave HESTA after more than a decade in the top job and as profit-to-member funds approach the “enormous frontier” of retirement. She says that to maintain their primacy in the face of competition from retail funds, they’ll have to work hard on serving members better.
AMP Super slashed its investment in Bitcoin futures ahead of the abrupt crypto sell-off last week, saying it had been an “excellent test” of its forecasting model’s ability to de-risk when required.
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