K63 Insurance and Superannuation Funds

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

700,000 retirees overpaying on super fund tax, says SMC

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 29-Jan-25

New research from the Super Members Council suggests that many Australian retirees are needlessly paying tax by leaving their superannuation in accumulation mode. These earnings are taxed at 15 per cent; in contrast, earnings from super funds in the retirement phase are not taxed, provided the fund’s balance is less than $1.9m. The research has found that about 700,000 people over the age of 65 who are no longer working full-time still have money in accumulation accounts, which is estimated to cost them an average of about $650 a year.

CORPORATES
SUPER MEMBERS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

LA bushfires spark insurance hike warning

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Original article by Summer Liu
The Australian – Page: 7 : 14-Jan-25

The Insurance Council of Australia’s 2023-24 Catastrophe Resilience report shows that the nation’s average insured losses from bushfires totalled $220m per year over the last three decades. However, this has increased to more than $560m in the past five years. Alix Pearce from the ICA says factors such as worsening extreme weather, inflationary pressures and global reinsurance prices are putting upwards pressure on insurance premium across Australia. There are fears that the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles will result in further increases in Australians’ insurance premiums.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

LA bushfires spark insurance hike warning

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Original article by Summer Liu
The Australian – Page: 7 : 14-Jan-25

The Insurance Council of Australia’s 2023-24 Catastrophe Resilience report shows that the nation’s average insured losses from bushfires totalled $220m per year over the last three decades. However, this has increased to more than $560m in the past five years. Alix Pearce from the ICA says factors such as worsening extreme weather, inflationary pressures and global reinsurance prices are putting upwards pressure on insurance premium across Australia. There are fears that the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles will result in further increases in Australians’ insurance premiums.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Cbus union payments in the spotlight

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 4-Dec-24

Deloitte has made 26 recommendations following its independent review of payments made by construction industry superannuation fund Cbus to the CFMEU. A spokesman for Cbus has indicated that it will accept ‘in principle’ all of the recommendations in Deloitte’s report, and it will work with the accounting firm to develop an action plan to implement each of the recommendations. Amongst other things, Deloitte concluded that Cbus lacked appropriate procedures to ensure that payments to the union were in accordance with its requirement to act in the best financial interest of members.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

The $5.1 billion problem costing one in four workers

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Original article by Millie Muroi
The Age – Page: Online : 28-Aug-24

The Super Members Council estimates that about 2.8 million workers were not paid their full superannuation entitlement in 2021-22, which equates to one in four workers. The underpayment totalled $5.1bn, which is around $1,800 per worker. The council says this could reduce affected employees’ retirement payouts by around $30,000; it also notes that unpaid super could force many people to delay their retirement. The council contends the federal government’s legislation requiring employers to align super contributions with their pay period rather than each quarter will help reduce underpayments; however, Labor has yet to legislate the change.

CORPORATES
SUPER MEMBERS COUNCIL

Stunning equity rallies bring super result

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Apr-24

Data from Chant West shows that the median growth superannuation fund posted a return of 8.8 per cent for the first nine months of 2023-24. This is just shy of the total return of 9.2 per cent for the full 2022-23 financial year. Chant West’s Mano Mohankumar says the performance of Australian and international equities were the key driver for the strong return; he notes that growth funds have gained 11 per cent since November, after losing 1.9 per cent in the first four months of the financial year. Balanced funds delivered a return of seven per cent for the nine months to 31 March.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD

Superannuation funds eye double-digit returns

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 24 : 16-Apr-24

Data from SuperRatings shows that the median balanced superannuation posted a return of 1.9 per cent in March and 8.8 per cent in the first nine months of 2023-24. Meanwhile, the median growth fund has delivered a return of 10.5 per cent so in the financial year. SuperRatings’ executive director Kirby Rappell says fund balances have continued to grow, despite uncertainty regarding the inflation outlook in Australia and overseas. The strong performance of international sharemarkets has contributed to super funds’ returns, with Wall Street outperforming the Australian bourse in 2023-24.

CORPORATES
SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD

Super fund satisfaction improves since low in July 2023 with strong performances from HESTA, Unisuper & REST Super

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Mar-24

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that overall satisfaction with the financial performance of super funds was 66.7% in January 2024. This is an increase of 1.7% points since the low reached in July 2023 (65.0%). There has been improvement across the different categories of super funds since the middle of last year. A standout performer over the last six months has been Self-Managed Funds, which have increased their customer satisfaction by 2.4% points to 76.8%; this is the highest level of customer satisfaction for Self-Managed Funds since April 2022. Customer satisfaction for Industry Funds has also increased significantly on six months ago, up by 1.8% points to 68.6%. Overall customer satisfaction for Public Sector Funds is up by 0.9% points from six months ago to 72.1%. However, customer satisfaction with Retail Funds is up by only 0.4% points to 60%. 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