Industry Super Australia (ISA) has mounted a strong defence of the ability of superannuation funds to finance political advertising, arguing that it fulfils a vital democratic function and would be almost impossible to prohibit.
While the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has told the Royal Commission that there is probably little value in advertising default funds, the ISA has used its submission to argue that “industry funds are subject to constant attack by retail funds”.
“The trustees of those retail funds, or the firms that own those funds, regularly lobby government for changes in the regulatory framework,” the ISA submission said. “Trustees of industry funds are of the opinion that some of these changes will likely cause significant harm to fund members. Political advertising is undertaken to prevent this harm from occurring.”
The ISA’s submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry said that changes to regulations concerning superannuation funds had the potential to significantly reduce members’ retirement benefits.
“It is entirely appropriate, if not obligatory, in those circumstances that trustees both inform members of the proposed changes and take steps to prevent them occurring,” it said.
“… any prohibition on political advertising is likely to be difficult, if not impossible, to implement in practice,” the ISA submission said. “Political advertising is in substance a form of political lobbying, and there will always be political lobbying (of some form) with politicians or senior departmental staff. It would be impossible to seek to prevent such communications from occurring.”
It said any prohibition on political advertising by trustees of superannuation funds would most likely be inconsistent with the constitutional freedom of communication on matters of government and politics.
“Communication on matters of government and politics is an indispensable incident of Australia’s constitutional system of government,” the submission said.
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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