The COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment that has allowed superannuation funds to have “real conversations” with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) instead of “spinning their wheels”.
APRA’s executive director, superannuation, Suzanne Smith, said at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) Super Governance Symposium that the communication and tech mediums that have needed to be used to navigate through the pandemic allowed more “iterative dialogue” and “real conversations”.
“This was opposed to big lumpy large amounts of deep preparation and very prescriptive packs of what APRA wants to hear,” she said.
“Issues are raised early, they get talked about, and funds get into the right direction instead of spinning wheels and wasting time crafting perfect communications.
“There is a willingness and we’ve found the conversations very insightful which means we worry less because we’ve been able to have a conversation so funds have been able to get on with their jobs. I would hope we continue to have real conversations in a more timely basis than we have in the past.”
Michael Lovett, who left the investment firm just three months after launching its Vanguard Super offering, has taken up a chief executive role at an Australian asset manager.
The Central Bank of Ireland has granted the approval of Equity Trustees’ exit from its Irish operations, with the transaction expected to be complete on 30 April.
Super returns continued to climb in March, raising hopes of delivering double-digit returns by June depending on the performance of this next quarter.
The dedicated super fund for emergency services and Victorian government employees is under fire for unpaid entitlements to transport employees, which could exceed $40 million.
Add new comment