SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA

Industry funds satisfying more at the top end

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source shows that in February 2018, superannuation fund members with $250,000 or more had higher satisfaction with the financial performance of their industry funds compared to those belonging to either retail funds or those with a self-managed super fund. The highest satisfaction for industry funds was for those members with balances of $700,000 or more where they scored 87.8%, well ahead of SMSFs (82.5%) and retail funds (80.2%). Meanwhile, satisfaction with the financial performance of retail funds (61.4%) was higher than industry funds (49.7%) in accounts with balances of less than $5,000. For all other balances industry funds had higher satisfaction than retail funds. Of the 15 largest funds, QSuper with a satisfaction rating of 73.3% was well ahead of second-placed Cbus (68.2%) and UniSuper (67.8%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, UNISUPER LIMITED

Over two million superannuation members contribute above the compulsory level

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Mar-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was conducted in the year to January 2018, has found that 2.2 million current superannuation members (20.8%) are paying more than the compulsory level of contributions into their fund. This compares with 25.5% of superannuation contributors in 2010 and 21.7% in 2013. The survey also shows that 45% of superannuation members with personal incomes of more than $150,000 per annum are paying beyond the Superannuation Guarantee rate, followed by those on incomes of $100,000 to $149,000 per annum (33.8%). In contrast, just 11.4% of people with earning below $25,000 per annum and 13.2% of those with annual income of $25,000 to $49,000 contribute more than the compulsory level to their super fund.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Labor’s $59b franking figure questioned

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Mar-18

SMSF Association chair Deborah Ralston has questioned the modelling supporting Labor’s plan to scrap cash refunds for franking credits. Labor has stated that it will deliver revenue gains of $A59 billion, but Ralston contends that the modelling does not take into account the $A1.6 million limit imposed on tax-free superannuation pensions in 2017. For its part, Labor claims that the Parliamentary Budget Office did take the new limit into consideration when costing its proposal.

CORPORATES
SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Super sows seeds in agriculture

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 18 & 22 : 12-Mar-18

Hostplus chief investment officer Sam Sicilia says the $A700 billion industry superannuation fund sector wants to boost its investment in agriculture. However, it does not want to do so in an ad-hoc fashion, such as by acquiring individual dairy farms, as investing in this fashion yields lower returns than from other investments, such as infrastructure. He says that the sector is thinking of setting up a joint investment company that would have the backing of major industry funds.

CORPORATES
HOST-PLUS, VICSUPER PTY LTD, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FIRST STATE, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, RETAIL EMPLOYEES SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD

AusSuper becomes biggest retirement fund

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 8-Mar-18

NMG Financial Services Consulting has forecast that Australia’s industry superannuation funds will have more assets under management than retail funds by 2019. Data from NMG shows that industry fund AustralianSuper has replaced AMP as the nation’s largest super fund. It boasted some $A120bn worth of assets under management at the end of 2016-17, compared with $A118bn for AMP. AustralianSuper’s net inflows for 2017 totalled $A7bn, while many large retail funds had net outflows.

CORPORATES
NMG FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSULTING LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NMG FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSULTING LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, REST SUPER PTY LTD, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUNSUPER PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, QSUPER LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, STATE SUPER SCHEME, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIA POST SUPER PTY LTD, MINE WEALTH AND WELLBEING

Women falling behind in professional super advice

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Feb-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 11.3% of Australian women purchase their superannuation through a "professional", compared to 14.4% of men. The survey also shows that just 68.8% of women have super, compared to 73.6% of men, while the average super balance for women is $133,000, which is only 71.9% of the male average ($185,000). Given that women have much lower superannuation balances than men, there is considerable potential to close the gap if they were able to make greater use of professional advisors such as financial planners, accountants and stockbrokers

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Industry funds set for swift growth

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 14 : 12-Jan-18

Australia’s industry superannuation funds now boast 6.8 million members, according to Roy Morgan’s Superannuation and Wealth Management report. In contrast, retail super funds have 3.9 million members. The report also shows that while the median age of all super fund members is 42.7 years, the median age of industry and retail fund members is 39.6 years and 45.7 years respectively. Meanwhile, the median balance of industry funds members is $A38,500, compared with the market average of $A57,800, although Roy Morgan attributes this to the lower median age of industry fund members.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Satisfaction with performance of industry superannuation funds back on top of retail funds

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Jan-18

Roy Morgan’s latest Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that in November 2017, satisfaction with the financial performance of industry superannuation funds (59.2%) was higher than retail funds (57.5%) for the third consecutive month, after having trailed them for the seven months prior. Satisfaction with self-managed superannuation funds remained the overall leader with 71.9%, despite being down by 2.4% points over the last year. Across the fifteen largest super funds (based on number of members), Qsuper had the highest satisfaction with 70.0%, followed by Cbus (67.4%) and Unisuper (66.4%). The best performer among the largest retail funds was Colonial First State in sixth place overall with a satisfaction rating of 61.2%, followed by MLC (55.8%), BT (55.8%), OnePath (54.7%) and AMP (54.2%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, UNISUPER LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, MLC LIMITED, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Bank inquiry’s massive dragnet

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 21-Dec-17

The royal commission into financial services will require banks, insurers and superannuation funds to disclose any instances of misconduct since the start of 2008, and whether they are currently the subject of criminal or civil proceedings. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne has indicated that industry super funds will also be required provide an explanation for any expenditure that not is related to the fund’s administration or the payment of members’ benefits. Meanwhile, Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell, has reservations about a revised banking code of practice.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Four super funds paid millions to CFMEU

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 6-Nov-17

Four industry superannuation funds made total payments of over $A12 million to the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union between 2007 and 2016, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. The union-backed funds, which include Cbus and FirstSuper, state the payments covered sponsorship arrangements and fees for union officials for sitting on their boards, but Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer is concerned that the AEC figures do not reflect the full scope of fund payments to unions.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, FIRST SUPER PTY LTD, BUSS (QUEENSLAND) PTY LTD, MINE WEALTH AND WELLBEING