The Treasury still has much more detail to provide on portfolio disclosure requirements before it can be viewed as workable, according to Unisuper’s head of investment law and compliance. Luke Barrett, who is responding to the Better Regulation and Governance discussion paper from the Treasury, is working with the Law Council of Australia’s superannuation committee … Read more
Superannuation funds should be given short-term tax incentives to invest in social infrastructure, such as retirement homes to help meet a shortfall in the care needs of the baby boomers, a chief investment officer will propose to the Murray Review. David Bryant of Australian Unity believes the investment is ideally suited to superannuation funds due … Read more
A group of academics are investigating measures of cognitive function that can be applied to gauge the financial decision making of retirees and their capacity to make optimal decisions when running a self-managed super fund (SMSF) portfolio. Paul Gerrans, associate professor of finance at the University of Western Australia, is concerned at the ability of … Read more
Two recent reports have delivered very different views of the Integrity of the Australian superannuation system. The 2013 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (the Index) gives the Australian retirement system an A in its integrity sub-index, while Morningstar’s 2013 Global Fund Investor Experience Report rates Australia as a C+. So, who’s right? In both reports, … Read more
Does ASIC’s MoneySmart website retirement income calculator produce estimates that contravene the Corporations Act? Consider the following BBQ conversation: Bill: “I’m retiring next month and was just using ASIC’s MoneySmart calculator to see how much income my superannuation will provide me” Bob: “That is really of interest to me as I won’t be far behind … Read more
All five of the major consultancy firms have a gloomy outlook on investment growth, but while several see hope in dynamic asset allocation, Jana Investment Advisers has urged investors to readjust their expectations. Representatives from each firm were quizzed by Sean Henaghan, investment director of AMP Capital at the Investment Management Consultants Association’s annual conference … Read more
Some funds are “throwing money out of the window” on alternative assets, by not working out clear objectives for their allocations, according to a senior strategist at QIC. Speaking at the Conexus Fiduciary Investors’ Symposium on the Mornington Peninsula, Tony McKenzie, chief strategist for global multi-asset, told of a widening gulf between funds with highly … Read more
Vision Super has stated a desire for a “transformational leader” in the appointment of the general manager of Super SA as its new chief executive. Stephen Rowe, who joins in January, will take over from Peter Rowe who has acted as interim chief executive of the $7bn fund since August 2012. Rowe was chief executive … Read more
The timing of Kevin O’Sullivan’s appointment is auspicious. A technocrat, an actuary and a maintainer of outsourced schemes at Russell Investments, he has arrived after most of the work around Stronger Super had been put in place at UniSuper. Well placed to do the assessments around product development, he would appear to be chosen for … Read more
Cbus has been commended for its bold move to disclose board salaries in the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ 2013 awards for excellence. The fund won the award for best annual report, the judges describing the information provided to members as reporting and acting with integrity. The report highlights the $111,000 salary given to board … Read more
A group of 30 superannuation funds have received a net promoter score of +5 from members, in an annual survey from the Fund Executives Association (FEAL), together with academics and a consumer research organisation. The net promoter score (NPS) is derived from survey responses to the question “how likely are you to recommend”, and is … Read more
There are many reasons to applaud the discussion paper issued by Treasury on better governance and transparency in superannuation, but its ownership by someone without an in-depth knowledge of retirement planning is worrying. That Arthur Sinodinos, the minister for financial services and assistant treasurer, also has a background in banking and thus a clear bias … Read more
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