Retail workers industry fund REST has urged the Australian Government to remove a rule that prevents most workers under-18 years old from earning any superannuation after research showed that the majority of Australians supported the change.
The $116 billion Colonial First State is seeking to diversify how it construct portfolios across a range of products, and chief investment officer Jonathan Armitage says a push into the unlisted worlds of private credit and infrastructure tops the list.
Few private equity players say they actively avoid hot sectors, but Flexstone Partners is of the view that PE investment is not about “hitting a home run every time” but securing doubles and triples every time it steps up to bat.
Allowing young Australians to tap into their super for a house purchase could cost taxpayers billions (even potentially a trillion) of dollars by the end of the century, a new modelling by Super Members Council shows.
The corporate regulator has accused super funds of inadequate oversight of advice fee deductions and failing to protect members from “unscrupulous operators”. ASIC has reiterated it does not expect trustees to review every piece of advice, but believes current practices are inadequate.
Despite initial reservations about changes to insurance in superannuation, Aware Super head of insurance David Evans says the industry has done a good job of improving cover, but must be much more proactive in communicating the benefits of insurance to members. He argues there’s no need for a wide-ranging review of the kind called for by organisations such as Super Consumers Australia.
Retirement is fundamentally different to accumulation, and demands specialist management and oversight. The Conexus Institute’s David Bell and Geoff Warren argue the case for a dedicated retirement committee as an effective way to quickly close any expertise gap between management and boards to help funds grapple with the complexity of delivering their retirement offerings.
The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment says Australian regulators like ASIC are not having enough dialogue with the private sector amid their greenwashing enforcement focus. While supervision around responsible investing is welcome to keep the market in check, PRI chief sustainable systems officer Nathan Fabian said Australia’s current approach lacks some nuance compared to global practice.
AMP has launched a debt strategy, which can be accessed by members invested in the MySuper or Future Directions options range.
Health industry super fund HESTA has appointed Natalie Kelly as its chief financial officer.
Australia’s second-largest super fund Australian Retirement Trust has successfully absorbed the $2.5 billion and 4800 members of AvSuper.
As regulatory and public scrutiny ramps up on decumulation, the mission statement of ‘delivering the best possible member outcome’ in Australia’s $3.5 trillion pension sector has just become even more complicated. Stepping out of the return-based objectives in accumulation, a recent Investment Magazine roundtable discussed how super funds are grappling with the different beast that is investing for retirement.
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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.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
