AustralianSuper is seeing increasing member enquiries on how their super is invested, as funds generally report greater member engagement. Hilary Spear, head of corporate affairs, AustralianSuper revealed the heightened interest in environmental, social and corporate governance at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ Employer Engagement Symposium, held in Melbourne last week. She said: “Shareholder activism … Read more
Cbus is conducting an investigation into allegations printed in the Australian Financial Review that member details were secretly passed to a union boss at CFMEU who used them in a dispute with building firm Lis-Con. The allegations state a source at Cbus passed on details of members who were working at Lis-Con – not all … Read more
Gallows humour, exasperation and despair are the natural demeanours of administrators facing SuperStream changes over the next year. Listening to executives in super funds and administrators on the topic of pass-throughs, gateways and error messages at the AIST Superannuation Administration Symposium in Melbourne last week, many used words of dread. The process was going to … Read more
Equip has replaced the role of chief financial officer with a chief risk officer to help meet Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) guidelines for understanding all aspects of investment risk. John Rodd stepped down from his role as chief financial officer at the fund earlier this month. It is believed his future intention is to … Read more
NGS Super has delivered a tailored insurance offer to its members that keeps premium rises under control and offers a sustainable three year deal for members and the insurer. Cheaper more APRA compliant, more tailored for members, a three year agreement with the insurer and a better financial settlement for those who make a claim. … Read more
If MySuper were not complicated enough, then QSuper went one further with eight cohort strategies to meet member needs. Rosermary Vilgan, the fund’s CEO explains why the fund is still evolving. The evolution of QSuper is not slowing down. There might be rivals wishing that were not so, or potentially those who have to implement … Read more
Cbus has decided against a pre-retirement derisking phase for its default fund, despite surveys showing members wanted this to happen. The decision is also counter to the trend where Sunsuper has introduced derisking at age 55 and QSuper has introduced seven cohorts for members at ages 40, 50 and 58. Cbus members would have benefitted … Read more
A market wide deleveraging out of equities could be the next big investment risk facing superannuation funds, Mark Delaney, chief investment officer of Australian Super has warned. Speaking in a debate on dynamic and tactical asset allocation strategies, Delaney saw the risk caused by the similarity of investor positions. “We’re still overweight stocks. Everyone’s in … Read more
Greater co-operation of superannuation funds is needed to check growing wealth inequality, leading chief investment officers told delegates. The call arose in a discussion of Thomas Piketty’s best-selling finance book Capital in the 21st Century and its warning that the rate of capital accumulation is growing faster in western societies than the economy. This, Piketty … Read more
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has seen a significant lift in the number of ASX listed companies proactively approaching it for advice on improving remuneration structures and health and safety standards in their supply chains. ACSI represents $400 billion in investments and owns about 10 percent of the ASX’s top 100 companies. Gordon … Read more
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) never happened in income terms. That’s the new finding from QSuper that’s causing it to rethink the way it communicates to members. Brad Holzberger chief investment officer at QSuper, has described the find as “astonishing”. “If we’d known this, we would’ve communicated it very differently to members at the time,” … Read more
Infrastructure and superannuation go together well. So well, that a simple online search of the terms turns up the phrases “If structured correctly, infrastructure is the perfect asset”; “stable, long-term cash flows… likely to provide attractive opportunities”; “a particularly attractive investment because of its potential to offer stable, long-term growth”. It is believed it will … Read more
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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.
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