POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Hume questions validity of super fund fee increases
The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, Senator Jane Hume has fired another shot over the bows of superannuation funds which have raised fees, suggesting the financial services regulators might care to scrutinise the funds.
Addressing a superannuation forum, Hume also questioned whether some funds were increasing fees because they had run down their administration reserves to historical lows.
“If a fund that has run down their administration reserves to historical lows over recent years then suddenly hikes fees to rebuild their buffers, I take a rather sceptical view of claims that the fee increases are the result of Government initiatives aimed at protecting small super accounts,” Hume said. “And I suspect the public will too. These claims will face scrutiny from the media, from their members, maybe from the regulators, and certainly from this government.”
The assistant minister said that many funds that received a substantial proportion of default super contribution had increased their administration fees in recent years irrespective of whether they were industry, retail or corporate funds.
“If some funds, especially the smaller ones, are increasing their fees because they are not of a size to spread the overheads required to invest in modern systems and deal with current compliance obligations, it truly speaks to everything I’ve said recently about the need to consider merging. Increasing fees and relying on employee inertia is a lazy solution and not in the best interests of members,” she said.
“But when it comes to some of the larger funds, we may need to dig a little deeper to find out the reasons behind fee increases.”
Recommended for you
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.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
73.88 3 y p.a(%)
2
Hills International
63.66 3 y p.a(%)
3
Acadian Global Equity Long Short Class A
36.33 3 y p.a(%)
4
CFS FC Acadian Global Equity Long Short
35.96 3 y p.a(%)
5
DomaCom 4/27 Crombie Avenue Bundall QLD 4217 Australia
32.23 3 y p.a(%)
Add new comment