The Government’s proposed Your Future Your Super legislation stops short of addressing the underperformance across the superannuation sector, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) believes.
AIST pointed to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released this week that found over the five years to December 2020, profit-to-member super funds, on average, outperformed retail funds by 23%.
AIST chief executive, Eva Scheerlinck, said this concentrated retail fund underperformance needed to be urgently addressed by the government and regulator.
She said the YFYS legislation stopped short of this as it only prescribed the annual performance test to default MySuper products, which on average tended to perform better.
“A one or two percentage differential in annual investment returns has a huge impact on the financial outcome for members in retirement,” Scheerlinck said.
“It should be legislated that every super product is subject to annual performance testing. Any exclusion simply lets underperforming funds escape scrutiny and eats away at member returns.”
Australia’s second-largest super fund has confirmed it is expanding its presence in the UK following significant investment in the region.
A member of the super fund has approached ASIC to investigate potentially misleading or deceptive representations by UniSuper regarding the holdings of its sustainable portfolios.
The median growth fund delivered 1.9 per cent in March, adding to the “stunning” rally that has seen super funds gain 11 per cent since November.
Vanguard has affirmed its support for the current super performance test, emphasising the importance of keeping the process straightforward.
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