The Federal Government will establish a superannuation consumer advocate and has asked the Treasury to recommend a potential provider following a call for expressions of interest, Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert announced yesterday.
This would be the first step taken by the Government to implement recommendation 28 of the Productivity Commission’s super report, which pushed for an independent, adequately resourced super members’ advocacy body.
The Commission had found that member advocacy was missing from the discourse on super, which instead focused on funds’ and trustees’ interest. “This is at the heart of many problems with the system,” the report said.
As part of the establishment process, the Government had asked the Treasurer to also recommend the potential scope of the advocate’s activities and to formulate accountability, governance and funding arrangements.
Robert cited the complex and compulsory nature of super as a reason such an advocate was vital, noting that the consumer body should have specialist knowledge.
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.
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