The government will have specific member service standards for insurance as a part of its broader reform package for superannuation funds, though the regulatory response to Shield and First Guardian will take priority with changes due to be announced next month.
Leading insurers have reiterated their commitment to the Australian market despite rising claims rate, citing collaboration with super funds to attain better insurance coverage among members as a key part of making the industry more “sustainable”, on a high-profile panel at the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit.
New research from the Council of Australian Life Insurers, released ahead of the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit, shows that life insurers paid out almost $6 billion across roughly 54,000 claims through group superannuation policies in the past 12 months – but that most Australians still don’t understand the cover they hold.
legalsuper has appointed HESTA chief operating officer Stephen Reilly as its new chief executive and former Qantas Super deputy chief investment officer Chris Grogan as chief investment officer.
The Coalition’s Your Future Your Super reforms, especially the contentious performance test, deserve credit for weeding out poor-performing funds and helping instil a more cost-conscious culture in super. But the test has largely accomplished its mission and its continuation undermines the system’s global competitiveness.
NGS Super has appointed Nick Callil as its head of strategy, with the fund saying the role will strengthen its strategic capability as it expands its retirement offering.
Asset managers that underestimate the importance of artificial intelligence to their businesses do so at their own peril, according to Anton Eser, global chief investment officer of Robeco, who thinks that many have less than a year to get across the “most important transformation” the industry has seen since the beginning of the index business more than 25 years ago.
The alleged conduct that led to the Shield and First Guardian debacle is unlikely to lead to any action under the Financial Accountability Regime. But a new ASIC report into platform trustees may deliver the individual consequences FAR was intended to mete out.
With the superannuation industry already beset by negative headlines about member services, the last thing it needed was a Super Consumers Australia “mystery shopper” study into the quality of customer service provided by 20 super fund call centres. But aspects of it demand closer scrutiny.
Mercer Super chief executive Claire Ross will exit the $85 billion retail fund after less than two years at helm, with Mercer Pacific chief financial officer Court Haas to take up the top job on an interim basis.
The $245 billion Aware Super says that around 15 per cent of assets in its high-growth option are exposed to the AI thematic, but says that finding the portfolio’s true concentration will require looking beyond simple dollar aggregation. Head of investment strategy Michael Winchester unpacks the approach and why the fund has to be “really discerning” with where it allocates to in the future.
AustralianSuper’s decision to tip $500 million into an Indian government infrastructure fund comes amidst increased belligerence from China and represents an escalation in the super fund diplomacy that the Albanese Government has used to deepen economic and political ties with key allies.
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