SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA

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

News Corp underpaid super

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 25-Feb-20

News Corp Australia says that about 2,500 current and former employees have not received their correct superannuation entitlements due to payroll system errors. A spokesman says that most of the affected employees were underpaid by less than $250, and they are collectively owed around $1.5m. The underpayments were discovered during a review of News Corp’s super contributions, which also revealed some instances of wages being overpaid.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards 2019: the best brands in banking and finance

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

The 2019 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards have been presented in Melbourne. This year’s awards added six new banking and finance categories, taking the total list of winning banks, insurers and superannuation funds to fourteen. Commonwealth Bank (Major Bank) continued its dominance by securing its seventh straight customer satisfaction award. Bank Australia (Bank) and Newcastle Permanent Credit Union (Building Society/Credit Union) both recorded their first win of the annual award. RACT (General Insurer) and RAC (Major General Insurer) won their respective categories with seven and 12 monthly wins respectively. Insuranceline (Risk and Life Insurer) took out its third annual award, and MLC (Major Risk and Life Insurer) was a first-time winner. Tasmanian-based St.LukesHealth (Private Health Insurer), Defence Health (Major Private Health Insurer – Not for Profit or Restricted) and ahm (Major Private Health Insurer – Retail) were the other insurance category successes. Macquarie (Retail Superannuation Fund) fought off stiff competition to win another annual award, whereas Colonial First State (Major Retail Superannuation Fund) won comfortably with 11 monthly awards. HESTA (Major Industry Superannuation Fund) was welcomed to the winner’s podium for the first time.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Lifting super punishes women on low incomes

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 19 : 24-Feb-20

The National Foundation for Australian Women has used its submission to a review of the retirement income system to argue against progressively increasing the superannuation guarantee. Professor Helen Hodgson of the NFAW says the legislated increase from 9.5 to 12 per cent by 2024 will reduce the take-home pay of low-income earners, and women in particular. However, Women In Super contends that the increase in the super guarantee should be brought forward.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN LIMITED, WOMEN IN SUPER

From bad to worse for AMP: $2.5bn loss, $6.3bn outflows, more to come

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 14-Feb-20

Wealth manager AMP has posted a statutory loss of $2.5bn for the 2019 calendar year, while its underlying profit fell by 32 per cent to $464m. A $2.35bn impairment charge in the first half was the major contributor to the big loss. Meanwhile, AMP’s wealth division recorded net cash outflows of $6.3bn for the year, and CEO Francesco De Ferrari says outflows are likely to be high again in 2020. AMP has advised that its customer remediation program is expected to be completed in 2021.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Age Pension for all beats hike in super

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 13-Feb-20

Mercer has used a submission to the federal government’s review of the retirement income system to call for the superannuation guarantee to remain at 9.5 per cent and to abolish means-testing for the age pension. The super guarantee is legislated to be progressively increase to 12 per cent by 2025, and some Coalition MPs have also called for the increase to be scrapped. Michael Littlewood, who helped design New Zealand’s retirement system, says there are major problems with Australia’s retirement system.

CORPORATES
MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

Bank concerns don’t apply to us: super funds

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 6-Feb-20

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia has questioned the need to expand the Banking Executive Accountability Regime to include super funds and insurers. ASFA CEO Martin Fahy describes the proposal as an ‘overkill’, and he argues that the super industry is already subject to tough regulation. He adds that the proposal will discourage product innovation and affect funds’ returns. Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh has expressed support for extending the regime beyond the bank sector.

CORPORATES
THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

NAB hit with class action on super rip-off

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Original article by Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 17 : 22-Jan-20

A class action lawsuit will contend that National Australia Bank’s superannuation customers incurred substantial losses due to the bank’s tardiness in shifting them to a MySuper product. Law firm Maurice Blackburn will argue that NAB subsidiaries MLC Nominees and NULIS Nominees breached their duties as superannuation trustees by keeping customers in funds that had higher fees than MySuper products. The allegations were first raised before the Hayne royal commission in 2018.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, MLC NOMINEES, NULIS NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY