APRA consults on publication of super fund expenditure

APRA is consulting on the publication of data around superannuation funds’ expenditure to provide members with greater transparency of their funds.

In an open letter to super trustees, the prudential regulator said it plans to publish total fund expenditure and expanded asset allocation data in mid-2024. 

This could include total expenses of promotion, marketing and sponsorship, all expenses with industrial bodies, all expenses with related parties, total director and executive remuneration expenses and political donations.

Under the additional asset allocation data, this could include property and infrastructure by sector classification, ownership model and development stage, alternative strategy funds by strategy type, listed equity by market capitalisation type and active/passive management and private equity by development stage and strategy type.

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This will follow data collection later this year following amendments to reporting standards under Phase 1 of APRA’s multi-year Superannuation Data Transformation project.

This is proposed to initially include:

• Total expenses for the industry by category and by internal, related outsourced and non-related outsourced arrangements for administration and operating expenses and for investment expenses
• Total expenses at individual fund level by category, including expenditure for marketing and sponsorships, industrial bodies, related parties, director and executive remuneration, and political donations by payee or service provider
• Total expenses with the name of the service provider where the provider is a promoter (such as a third party that receives a benefit for marketing a fund); and
• Additional aggregated asset allocation data for fund investments in property and infrastructure, alternative strategy funds, listed equity and private equity. APRA will seek trustee feedback on publishing the data at an individual fund level as well. 

APRA deputy chair, Margaret Cole, said: “These proposals represent an important step forward in achieving greater transparency in superannuation.

“It is APRA’s aim to publish as much of the data that we collect as possible, especially where there is a strong public interest in having access to high quality industry data that is comparable across funds.

“Under these proposals, members would have a clearer and more detailed picture of how their money is being spent and invested, while trustees would be further compelled to remain closely focused on improving member outcomes,” Cole said.

The consultation will include two roundtable discussions with trustees and stakeholders and close on 29 November 2023.