A damning new ASIC report into death benefit claims handling in superannuation lays bare the scale of the problem and the measures that funds will have to take if they want to solve it. It starts with funds reading what their members really think.
Years of consolidation mean that the list of potential merger targets has dwindled to a mere 13, with the potential that some could wind up stranded as funds opt to merge with others in the same niche or forego another merger in the face of more pressing service challenges.
Superannuation fund trustee boards can’t be mates’ clubs, but nor can they be places where strongly opposing philosophies on the role and purpose of super can happily co-exist, and boards should look past skills matrices to ensure only high-calibre appointments, according to one of Australia’s leading company directors and good governance advocate, David Gonski AC.
In most cases, the adage “time in the market beats timing the markets” would serve super funds which receive regular contributions and have long investment horizons well. But for the $37 billion closed-end State Super, which is in net asset outflow, time is one thing the fund does not have. CEO John Livanas outlines how State Super keeps volatility in check as the fund retreats from private assets.
With a young, predominantly female and relatively low-balance membership, Rest Super faces some specific issues helping its members enjoy their best-possible retirement. Interim chief member officer Andrew Ford says Rest’s strategy is to engage early, on members’ terms, and to make complex issues seem as simple as possible.
Adviser relationships, operational uplift and member services will all be arrows in the quiver of profit-to-member funds as they try to keep members from switching to platforms that desperately need to refresh their own demographics.
A near-$10 billion windfall from superannuation fund taxes revealed in the 2025-26 Budget has prompted calls for additional support for the retirements of low-income earners. Overall, the superannuation sector emerged unscathed from Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ fourth Budget, the last before a Federal election expected to be called within days.
Australian asset owners are eyeing a more volatile macro backdrop as they try to find their way to the end of the AI story abroad and wrestle with heightened regulatory scrutiny at home.
The government has split the eagerly awaited second tranche of its Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms in two, with part one (released on Friday) dealing with collective charging for advice and with “targeted prompts” or nudges. But trickier issues such as reforming the Best Interests Duty and introducing a new class of adviser will have to wait – to a date yet to be determined.
The role of IFM Investors in arranging a visit by a delegation of Australian super funds to the US last month gives a pointer to the scale of the longer-term ambitions of the global super-fund-owned asset manager, and a recent investment in the manager by the UK pension fund NEST is designed to give it even greater clout. IFM chair Cath Bowtell tells Investment Magazine the manager aims to be a partner to governments around the world as they seek capital to build critical infrastructure.
In these difficult times, one thing you can control is fees, writes Michael Block – so investors need to make they’re getting value for money, and every little bit helps.
A decision to switch careers led Kate Misic from working with telescopes to working with a $30 billion superannuation investment team, and as Telstra Super chief investment officer of nine years Graeme Miller steps away, Misic is stepping up.
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