K63 Insurance and Superannuation Funds

Medibank mulls cash refunds

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 16 : 7-May-20

Health fund Medibank Private expects its earnings and dividends to be in line with previous guidance, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Customers will save about $120m after Medibank opted to delay premium increases for six months, while CEO Craig Drummond has indicated that it may be open to providing partial refunds due to a fall in claims during the lockdown. NIB Holdings recently flagged the possibility of providing fund members with cash rebates due to the coronavirus.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF

APRA to probe super payouts

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 1-May-20

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority generally expects superannuation funds to release money under the federal government’s early access scheme within five business days. APRA requires super funds to provide it with a range of data every week regarding the early access regime, and a spokesman says it is prepared to pursue enforceable action against funds that do not pay eligible members within an appropriate time-frame. APRA is collecting both industry-level and fund-level data, which will be publicly disclosed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Billions of early super released

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 24-Apr-20

The Australian Taxation Office has already approved 456,000 applications from superannuation fund members who want to utilise the federal government’s early access scheme. Some $3.8m worth of withdrawals have been approved since the scheme opened on 20 April; more than 900,000 people had previously registered interest in the scheme, which is restricted to fund members who have experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic. Association of Super Funds of Australia CEO Martin Fahy has downplayed concerns that some super funds may face liquidity issues due to the early access scheme.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ASX equities to be hit by forced selling as workers grab super

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Australian – Page: 20 : 23-Apr-20

Matthew Ross of Goldman Sachs estimates that up to $44bn could be withdrawn from superannuation funds by people who have been financially hit by the pandemic, compared with the federal government’s forecast of $27bn. The early access scheme may result in liquidity issues for some super funds, which could in turn be forced to reduce their exposure to shares. Ross says this could potentially reduce the benchmark S&P/ASX 200’s market ­capitalisation by around 0.45 per cent.

CORPORATES
GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Self-Managed and Public Sector Super Funds increase satisfaction in March, but Industry & Retail both down

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Apr-20

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that Self-Managed Funds and Public Sector Funds both increased their satisfaction in March, despite significant market upheaval with the ASX200 falling significantly from its February record high. As a sector, Self-Managed Funds have the highest level of customer satisfaction (75.0%), up 0.3% from February, followed by Public Sector Funds on 74.5% (+0.3%). In contrast, satisfaction with Industry Funds fell by 1.1% in a month to 64.4%, while Retail Funds were down 0.2% to 60%. The report’s findings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, Australia’s most comprehensive and trusted consumer survey.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Big super warns of cash-in risk

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Tony Boyd, Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 3-Apr-20

Treasury has forecast that about $27bn in total will be withdrawn from superannuation funds after the federal government relaxed the rules governing early access for people who have been impacted by the pandemic. AustralianSuper CEO Ian Silk notes that industry estimates suggest that withdrawals could top $50bn. He adds that some super funds may struggle to cope with a big increase in withdrawals, but stresses that it will not be an issue for AustralianSuper. Silk also warns that a surge in withdrawals will affect the super industry’s capacity to invest in and recapitalise businesses when the crisis abates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD

Reserve Bank could lend money to super funds to help cover coronavirus withdrawals

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Guardian – Page: Online : 31-Mar-20

The federal government has predicted that as much as $27 billion could be withdrawn from super funds under rules allowing people who lose their jobs as a result of COVID-19 to withdraw up to $20,000, but some funds suggest that it could be as much as $60 billion. The Reserve Bank is understood to be working out how it might set up a government-backed facility to assist funds to pay withdrawals, although Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has thus far rejected the idea. The government’s decision to introduce a wage subsidy to keep people in work could mean the level of withdrawals may not be as great as previously forecast.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Super funds lose billions as crisis hits

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 15 & 22 : 25-Mar-20

The financial market turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic has weighed on asset valuations in the superannuation industry. AustralianSuper has slashed the value of its portfolio of unlisted assets by 7.5 per cent, while IFM Investors has cut the valuations of its Australian unlisted assets by an average of 7.6 per cent. Both group have exposure to a range of infrastructure assets, such as airports and toll roads. Other super funds are also reviewing the value of their unlisted assets.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

Super fund satisfaction at risk as markets tumble

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Mar-20

New data in Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that CARE Super has the highest customer satisfaction rating, at 74.5%. Self-managed funds scored the highest average satisfaction when compared to other sectors. The Superannuation Satisfaction Report, with data up to February 2020, shows CARE Super on 74.5%, an increase of 9.2% on 12 months ago. It placed ahead of Tasplan on 72.8% (+6.9%), Unisuper on 72.7% (+1.5%) and Cbus on 71.0% (+5.0%). Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that given recent heavy losses in equities markets due to the Coronavirus pandemic, these levels of customer satisfaction may be the highest we see for some time. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, CARE SUPER PTY LTD, TASPLAN LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND

Growing super’s $3 trillion funds pool

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Feb-20

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that the total value of assets managed by the nation’s superannuation funds increased by 13 per cent to $2.951bn in 2019. Rice Warner forecasts that the super pool will increase to about $7trn by 2034, and so-called mega funds will dominate the sector. MySuper accounts boasted assets under management of $802bn at the end of 2019, up nearly 20 per cent, while self-managed super funds had assets totalling $739.7bn, an increase of 7.8 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RICE WARNER ACTUARIES PTY LTD