K63 Insurance and Superannuation Funds

Super funds told to help bailout plan

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 10-Dec-25

The federal government will require the superannuation sector to contribute to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort for the first time. The government intends to impose a ‘special levy’ on the super industry to help cover the scheme’s expected funding shortfall of $47.3m for the current financial year. Banks, financial advisers and stockbrokers are amongst the financial services providers that usually fund the CSLR via a levy. There has been ongoing concern about the viability of the CSLR since it was established to compensate refund victims of financial misconduct in cases where the provider is insolvent or otherwise lacks the capacity to pay.

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Super fund satisfaction improves to highest since May 2022 with Retail Fund satisfaction at a new all time high

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jul-25

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction with financial performance rating of 69.9% in May 2025, an increase of 3.1% points from a year ago and up 4.9% points from the post-pandemic low of 65.0% in July 2023. Despite hitting a low point in July 2023 superannuation satisfaction with financial performance has remained significantly higher than the long-term average of 59.0% post-pandemic, and is now approaching the all-time high of 72.0% reached in January 2022. There has been improvement across all four different categories of super funds over the last year; the largest increase has been for Retail Funds, with customer satisfaction up 6.4% points to 69.3%. Customer satisfaction for Industry Funds is up 2% points to 69.5%, while satisfaction with Public Sector Funds is up 0.8% points to 75% and satisfaction with Self-Managed Funds is up 0.8% points to 77.7%. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Bupa sued for $35m for misleading customers

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Jul-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has asked the Federal Court to impose a $35 million fine on health insurer Bupa for allegedly misleading customers over a five-year period. The ACCC alleges that Bupa gave customers incorrect information in regard to claiming benefits in situations where two or more procedures were taking place at the same time, with some customers having to pay thousands of dollars or cancel medical procedures altogether as a result of the incorrect information. Bupa’s Asia Pacific CEO Nick Stone says he is "deeply sorry" that customers were given the wrong information, while ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says Bupa should have invested in the proper training and processes to prevent such mistakes from occurring.

CORPORATES
BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Stokes slams ALP’s super tax hit

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Original article by Perry Williams, Jared Lynch, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 15 : 7-May-25

SGH Limited’s CEO Ryan Stokes has criticised the federal government’s proposal to tax the unrealised capital gains of superannuation funds. Stoke contends that while taxing profits is "entirely reasonable", taxing unrealised capital gains is dangerous and sets a far-reaching and concerning precedent, while it could also distort markets. The tax would initially apply to super accounts with a balance of more than $3m, but Stokes warns that it could potentially be extended to other asset classes. The Greens have advocated lowering the threshold to $2m, while the fact that the tax will not be indexed to inflations means that it will progressively apply to more people.

CORPORATES
SGH LIMITED – ASX SGH, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

AusSuper’s six-day delay on cyber scam

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Apr-25

The 74-year old woman who lost more than $400,000 from her AustralianSuper account when it was targeted by scammers informed the industry super fund of the fraud on 28 March. The siphoned money was channeled through five separate Commonwealth Bank of Australia accounts, but it has been revealed that AustralianSuper did not inform CBA of the fraud until 3 April. The co-ordinated cyber-attack also targeted several other major industry super funds, although AustralianSuper is the only one to have confirmed that its members have lost money. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has increased its oversight of the super industry in the wake of the cyber-attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTDCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBAAUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Medibank must release hack reports

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Original article by Angelica Snowden
The Australian – Page: 17 : 8-Apr-25

The Federal Court has ruled that Medibank’s customers should be given access to cyber-security reports that were prepared by Deloitte in the wake of the health insurer’s data breach in October 2022. Medibank had contended that the reports were subject to legal professional privilege. Justice Helen Rofe noted that Medibank had consistently stated that it would share the results of the external review, although she concluded that chairman Mike Wilkins had in fact never intended to do so. Customers who were affected by the cyber-attack are pursuing a class action against Medibank.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Retirees trying to change their super can’t log into their accounts

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Original article by Michelle Bowes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 8-Apr-25

Financial advisers have cautioned superanuation fund members from making changes to their investment options – such as switching from shares to cash – in response to the global sharemarket ructions. Anxiety among super fund members has been heightened by the recent hacking attack on some funds. Access to the accounts of affected funds has been restored, but some still have limited functionality; this includes the ability to make changes to their investment options. Super funds are also emphasising to their members that superannuation is a long-time investment.

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Overeach for ASIC to fine us, says big super

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 14-Mar-25

Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has labelled the superananuation sector the "poster child" for governance failures, with Mary Delahunty saying Longo’s comments are an "overeach". Delahunty is from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, which is the lobby group for the superannuation industry, with ASIC seeking to impose fines on AustralianSuper over its alleged failure to deal with thousands of death benefit claims in a prompt manner. However, Delahunty believes ASIC should use methods such as enforceable undertakings to regulate the industry, rather than fines.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION,(SPACE)THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED,(SPACE)AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD

Private Health Insurance Switching: HCF, Bupa, and ahm see biggest customer growth

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Feb-25

Data from Roy Morgan shows that despite rising cost-of-living pressures, most Australians are maintaining private health insurance rather than opting out, but they are switching. As of December 2024, over half of Australians aged 14+ (57.2%) hold a private health insurance policy – equivalent to approximately 12.9 million people. This represents steady growth over the past five years, rising from 52.9% in December 2020 to 57.2% in December 2024. Some 6.8% of private health insurance policies were switched to another company in the year to December 2024, while 17.9% were renewed after approaching another company. In total, close to one in four (24.6%) people looked for a better health insurance policy deal, up from 22.3% in the previous year. HCF, Bupa and ahm have been the biggest winners from customer switching in the past 12 months, benefiting from their reputation for competitive pricing. In contrast, Medibank Private saw the largest customer loss due to switching.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

AusSuper tipped $500m into Nvidia before DeepSeek crash

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Original article by Joshua Peach
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 4-Feb-25

Corporate filings with the US Securities & Exchange Commission show that AustralianSuper ramped up its investment in semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia during the second half of 2024. The industry superannuation fund bought 2.42 million shares in Nvidia in the December quarter; based on the stock’s average price during the period, AustralianSuper is estimated to have paid around $US304m ($489m) to increase its total exposure to Nvidia to more than $US1bn at the end of 2024. Nvidia’s market value subsequently fell by $US600m on 27 January, in response to revelations about China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence model.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, NVIDIA CORPORATION, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION