SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA

Super funds notch ninth year of growth

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 19-Jul-18

Data from Chant West shows that Australia’s median growth superannuation fund achieved a return of 9.2 per cent in 2017-18. Mano Mohankumar of Chant West says growth funds have achieved positive returns for nine consecutive years, with an average annual return of nine per cent over the period. Hostplus delivered the best return for the financial year, at 12.5 per cent, ahead of AustSafe Super and Statewide Super. Unisuper was the top performer over 10 years, with an average annual return of 7.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX CWL, HOST-PLUS, AUSTSAFE PTY LTD, STATEWIDE SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD, UNISUPER LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, SUNSUPER PTY LTD, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD

Perpetual motion: Lloyd to lead NAB wealth spin-off

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 18-Jul-18

National Australia Bank has advised that Geoff Lloyd will become CEO of its MLC wealth business on 1 September. Lloyd recently stepped down as CEO of Perpetual after six years, a period which saw strong growth in its profits and share price. NAB plans to divest MLC via a sharemarket float or trade sale, and Lloyd says the opportunity to grow the business as a stand-alone wealth manager was a key reason for his decision to take on the role. The spin-off will include NAB’s superannuation and financial planning businesses.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, JBWERE LIMITED, NABTRADE, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Funds in black for ninth year in a row

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 21 : 17-Jul-18

Preliminary data shows that Australia’s median growth superannuation fund achieved a return of nine per cent in 2017-18, compared with the S&P/ASX 200’s gain of 8.3 per cent. Data from Chant West shows that the median growth fund’s return since fiscal 2009 has averaged 9.5 per cent, for a cumulative return over the period of more than 130 per cent. The funds with the highest returns are expected to have gained at least 12 per cent in 2017-18. Meanwhile, MLC Super’s chief investment officer Jonathan Armitage says returns are likely to be lower in the next several years.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX CWL, MLC LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, REST SUPER PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Westpac to quit SMSF lending

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Original article by Duncan Hughes, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 17-Jul-18

Westpac will cease offering new loans to self-managed superannuation funds that wish to invest in property at the end of July. Chris Balalovski of BDO notes that there does not seem to be any problems with losses in the SMSF sector as regards property, and that Westpac’s decision could be more to do with negative regulatory or consumer sentiment towards loans to SMSFs. Jordan George from the SMSF Association says it is his understanding that the Commonwealth Bank and Macquarie still provide loans to SMSFs, but that the National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank do not lend to the sector.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SMSF ASSOCIATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Sunsuper swallows another fund

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 6-Jul-18

Sunsuper will merge with AustSafe Super, a $2.2 billion industry super fund that targets regional and rural Australians. The merger will create a $58 billion fund with 1.4 million members. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is keen to see smaller superannuation funds merge, while Sunsuper CEO Scott Hartley believes that the sector will consolidate to the point where only half a dozen "mega" funds remain.

CORPORATES
SUNSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTSAFE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, KINETIC SUPER, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD

Pure play coal just doesn’t make the cut for UniSuper

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 5-Jul-18

UniSuper’s Talieh Williams says the superannuation fund takes into account a range of factors when deciding whether to invest in a stock. UniSuper has relatively little exposure to the coal sector, and pure-play coal miners in particular, which she attributes to the super fund’s rigorous investment processes. Meanwhile, QSuper says it invests across the S&P/ASX 200 Index and therefore does have exposure to pure-play coal producers. Yancoal Australia recently blamed fund managers’ lack of interest in a capital raising for its proposal for a dual listing in Hong Kong.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, UNISUPER LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, CLIMATE ACTION 100+, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ADELAIDE BRIGHTON LIMITED – ASX ABC, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Superannuation of female intending retirees still lags

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Jul-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was carried out in the year to April 2018, shows that an estimated 392,000 Australians intend to retire in the next 12 months. However, the average superannuation held by women who intend to retire in the next 12 months is $177,000 or equal to only 57.3% of the male average ($309,000). Meanwhile, the average superannuation held by female intending retirees in 2008 was $79,000 or only 55.2% of the male average of $143,000. The survey is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own home, including over 2,200 with people who intend to retire in the next 12 months.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

DIY super is built on dodgy advice

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Original article by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The Age – Page: 20 : 29-Jun-18

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s deputy chairman Peter Kell says the financial planning industry needs to lift its game when it comes to providing advice to the $A697bn self-managed superannuation fund sector. Kell was commenting on an ASIC report which contends that nine out of every 10 SMSFs are "underpinned" by sub-standard financial advice. The number of SMSFs grew by an average of 5.2 per cent a year between 2010 and 2017, while there were over 590,000 SMSFs at the end of June 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Industry Funds satisfy top investors

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Jun-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that industry superannuation funds had the highest level of customer satisfaction among Australians aged +14 with account balances of more than $5,000 in the six months to April 2018. Retail funds showed the highest relative performance among funds with less than $5,000, although these accounts only represent 0.1% of the monetary value of the super market. Industry funds also had the highest satisfaction among members with account balances of $700,000 or more. Among the top 15 funds, QSuper has the highest level of satisfaction (72.3%), followed by Unisuper (69.1%) and VicSuper (67.9%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, VICSUPER PTY LTD

Senator wants end to unions’ tax-free status

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 18-Jun-18

Coalition senator Amanda Stoker says unions should no longer be exempt from paying tax, as they have a competitive advantage in business areas where they operate. She adds that about two million workers do not have choice of superannuation fund because they are required to join a union-backed industry fund. Stoker also notes that many workers are also restricted to joining one union, and unions often exploit this monopoly in enterprise bargaining negotiations. Stoker will use her maiden speech in Parliament to advocate reform.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY