SUPERANNUATION – 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

Size, target returns matter most for funds

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 30-Oct-17

Frontier Advisors has looked at four factors that are likely to determine a superannuation fund’s performance and compared to them to rates of returns over three years. The factors in question were fund size, fees, targeted return and level of risk taken. It concluded that funds that met the following criteria were most likely to achieve the best returns; they had assets of more than $A10 billion, charged mid-range fees and took mid-range risks, but aimed for higher target returns.

CORPORATES
FRONTIER ADVISORS PTY LTD

Low income earners hit hardest by fees

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 22 : 20-Sep-17

KPMG has released a report which shows that the average superannuation fund balance on retirement is 6.2 per cent lower for members who have a default life insurance policy. However, life insurance fees means the average super balance on retirement is 14 per cent lower in the case of women whose annual income is less than $A37,000. Default insurance accounted for about 50 per cent of the $A14bn worth of insurance benefits that were paid out in the three years to June 2016. The Insurance in Superannuation Working Group will release its draft code of practice on 20 September.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, INSURANCE IN SUPERANNUATION WORKING GROUP, RICE WARNER ACTUARIES PTY LTD, RAINMAKER INFORMATION SERVICES PTY LTD, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

NAB’s wealth builder vows to lift the game

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Sep-17

Matthew Lawrance, the recently appointed CEO of the National Australia Bank-owned MLC Super, acknowledges that there is a lack of trust and confidence in the superannuation sector that industry participants need to help restore. He says the media could help in this respect, by providing more balanced coverage of the sector. Noting that perhaps no more than 20 per cent of Australians seek financial advice, Lawrance says this is an area in which MLC Super could do more work.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC SUPER

Retail superannuation funds once again higher than industry funds in the satisfaction stakes, after trailing for a decade

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Sep-17

Roy Morgan Research’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report for July 2017 shows that satisfaction with the financial performance of retail superannuation funds (58.7%) was higher than industry funds (58.2%) for the sixth consecutive month, after having trailed them for more than a decade. Satisfaction with self-managed superannuation funds maintained their overall lead with 73.8%, up 2.8% points in the last year. Although retail funds overall performed marginally better than industry funds, at the individual fund level among the majors, they did not rank in the top five performers. Across the fifteen largest super funds (based on number of members), Qsuper had the highest satisfaction with 73.3%, followed by Cbus (65.7%) and Unisuper (64.8%). The best performing largest retail funds were Colonial First State (59.0%), MLC (57.8%), OnePath (56.5%) and BT (55.5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, UNISUPER LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, MLC LIFETIME COMPANY LIMITED, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT

‘Good debt’ to underwrite Future Fund

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 1-Sep-17

The Future Fund has posted an annual return of 8.7 per cent for 2016-17, compared with its target return of 6.9 per cent. However, chairman Peter Costello says returns and asset values are likely to be affected by an expected rise in interest rates. He adds that the Federal Government’s decision to postpone drawdowns by five years will allow the sovereign wealth fund to cover all unfunded public sector super liabilities, which are forecast to top $A200bn in 2021. The Government will increase what Treasurer Scott Morrison labels "good" debt to fund super liabilities between 2021 and 2026.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, QIC LIMITED, PORT OF MELBOURNE

Superannuation fund looks for a greenie to keep them in the black

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 2-Aug-17

Vision Super hopes to attract new members for its sustainable balanced fund by targeting people who take part in climate change demonstrations and protest rallies. The superannuation fund, which boasts some 100,000 members in the local government sector and $A8.75bn worth of assets under management, is seeking to recruit a climate activist. John Roskam of the Institute of Public Affairs has questioned the appropriateness of Vision Super’s use of members’ funds to hire an environment activist.

CORPORATES
VISION SUPER PTY LTD, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Superannuation balance of intending retirees increasing, but females still lag

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jul-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that an estimated 430,000 Australians intend to retire in the next 12 months. An analysis of the superannuation of intending retirees shows that the average balance for women is $158,000, or 60.8% of the male average of $260,000. The gender gap has closed considerably since 2008, when the female balance was only $79,000 or 55.2% of the average male superannuation balance. A great deal of publicity has been given to this issue, and it has obviously increased awareness and effort to improve retirement funding for women.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

O’Dwyer lashes out at ‘tricky’ insurers

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 21 : 27-Jul-17

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has criticised the way life insurance providers have handled requests by superannuation fund members to opt out of life and disability coverage via their super fund. O’Dwyer says life insurers have been "tricky" regarding the issue of opting out. She also argues that life insurers must demonstrate that the products they offer have value to super fund members, and notes that such coverage may not necessarily be relevant to people under the age of 25.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Industry funds top super league table

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jul-17

Data from Chant West shows that the average balanced superannuation fund posted a return of 10.7 per cent in 2016-17. Meanwhile, the average return for industry super funds was 11.1 per cent, compared with just 9.7 per cent for retail funds. Hostplus delivered the best return among balanced funds, at 13.2 per cent, followed by Australian Super’s return of 12.4 per cent. Mark Delaney of AustralianSuper says fund members should expect a lower return in 2017-18.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, SUNSUPER PTY LTD, FIRST STATE SUPER, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, INTRUST SUPER FUND, KINETIC SUPER, CATHOLIC SUPER, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA