K63 Insurance and Superannuation Funds

No-win, no-fee prevails in AMP class action face-off

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Original article by Michael Pelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-May-19

Five law firms filed class actions against AMP in the wake of ‘the fee for no service’ scandal that was unearthed by the banking royal commission. However, NSW Supreme Court Justice Julie Ward ruled on 23 May that only one action, which is a combined effort between Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, can proceed. Ward said Maurice Blackburn will have to put up $5 million as security for AMP’s expenses, while AMP advised in a statement that it intend to vigorously defend the class action.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART AND SULLIVAN LP, SHINE LAWYERS, PHI FINNEY McDONALD PTY LTD

Industry funds to back Murray for AMP chair

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 23-Apr-19

It is understood that the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors will conditionally back the appointment of David Murray as AMP chairman at its AGM in May. Proxy advisers have recommended that Murray be appointed. However, there is some controversy about private comments supposedly made by Murray. He is understood to have said that if there is a big vote against his appointment as a result of the controversy regarding the sale of AMP’s life business, the other two directors who were on the board when the decision was made would resign.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED, CGI GLASS LEWIS PTY LTD, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, OWNERSHIP MATTERS PTY LTD

Feast of double-digit super returns is over

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Original article by James Kirby
The Australian – Page: 26 : 17-Apr-19

New data shows that both balanced and growth superannuation funds achieved a return of just 0.8 per cent in March. The low returns mean super funds may struggle to deliver strong returns for the financial year, after global financial market volatility weighed on returns in the December quarter. Super funds have returned an average of just 3.2 per cent so far in 2018-19, and balanced funds are now unlikely to maintain their recent track record of double-digit returns for the full year.

CORPORATES
SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Industry funds to reach $2trn within 10 years

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Apr-19

KPMG has forecast that Australia’s superannuation industry will boast $5.4trn worth of funds under management by 2029, compared with just $2.7trn at present. The firm’s 2019 Super Insights report also forecasts that industry funds will manage $2trn in 2029, up from $631bn in 2019. Paul Howes of KPMG says union-backed industry funds must ensure that they comply with the ‘sole-purpose test’ as their dominance of the super industry increases.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, SUNSUPER PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MLC LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

IAG faces action over sales tactics

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 12-Apr-19

Law firms Johnson Winter & Slattery and Bannister Law have filed a class action against Insurance Australia Group. The lawsuit will allege that IAG subsidiary Swann Insurance engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct with regard to the sale of add-on car insurance, which IAG has ceased offering. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission questioned the value of add-on insurance in 2017, while such policies also attracted scrutiny by the Hayne royal commission.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SWANN INSURANCE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, JOHNSON WINTER AND SLATTERY, BANNISTER LAW, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Satisfaction with industry funds increasing while total market satisfaction declines

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Apr-19

The latest findings from ‘The Roy Morgan Superannuation Satisfaction Report’ shows that industry funds improved their satisfaction rating by 0.9% points (to 62.1%) in the year to February 2019. Satisfaction with retail funds fell to 55.7% (down 3.5% points), and satisfaction with self-managed super funds was 73.4% (down 0.1%). The report shows that industry funds have higher satisfaction than retail funds across all balances. Over the last year, retail funds have shown declines in satisfaction at all levels, with the biggest decline being a drop of 14.3% for members with balances of less than $5,000. There was also an 8.0% point decline for those with balances of $700,000 or more. Meanwhile, of the 15 best performing industry and retail funds, Unisuper with a satisfaction rating of 71.2% was well ahead of second placed HESTA (68.3%) and Cbus (66.6%). The report is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 30,000 superannuation fund members.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND

AustralianSuper declares war on DIY funds

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Mar-19

AustralianSuper CEO Ian Silk will use a speech in Brisbane on 13 March to argue for greater regulation of self-managed superannuation funds. He will tell the Conference of Major Super Funds of the need for an inquiry into the performance of SMSFs. Research by the Productivity Commission has concluded that SMSFs that hold less than $500,000 tend to perform much worse than regular super funds. Silk will also argue that super funds which consistently underperform should not be allowed to remain in business.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, CONFERENCE OF MAJOR SUPERANNUATION FUNDS (CMSF) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Industry super wins $11b from retail

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 27-Feb-19

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show that retail superannuation funds’ outflows totalled $10.9bn in 2018, compared with just $3.5bn in 2017. Industry funds benefited from the bearish sentiment toward retail funds. AustralianSuper’s funds under management rose by 17 per cent to $140bn, lifting its market share to 5.7 per cent. AMP, which was highly criticised by the Hayne royal commission, remains the nation’s largest retail super fund. It boasts some $123bn worth of funds under management, although its market share has fallen below five per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Industry Superannuation Funds increase lead in satisfaction with performance

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Feb-19

New research by Roy Morgan shows that members’ satisfaction with the financial performance of industry superannuation funds was 62.1% in the six months to January 2019, compared with 57.3% for retail super funds. Satisfaction with retail funds was 1.6% below that of industry funds in 2018, and this gap has now increased to 4.8%. Eight of the top 10 performing super funds, based on satisfaction with their financial performance, were industry funds in January 2019. The highest rating was for Catholic Super (72.1%), followed by Unisuper (70.8%). The only two retail funds to make it to the top 10 were Macquarie (65.9%) and Colonial First State (60.4%). These results are from the newly released Roy Morgan ‘Satisfaction with Financial Performance of Superannuation in Australia January 2019’ report. The data in this latest report represents some of the findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 30,000 with superannuation. Results presented here are based on interviews conducted in the six months to January 2019.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, CATHOLIC SUPER, UNISUPER LIMITED, MACQUARIE SUPERANNUATION, COLONIAL FIRST STATE SUPER

Super changes to cost AMP $30m annually

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 19-Feb-19

Embattled wealth manager AMP has advised that the federal government’s superannuation reforms will reduce its operating earnings by about $10m in 2019 and up to $30m in 2020. The reforms will allow the Australian Taxation Office to consolidate super accounts that are inactive or have low balances. AMP estimates that the reforms will affect about 370,000 of its super accounts. The bill has been passed by the Senate with the Greens’ support, although it has yet to be passed by the lower house.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ