SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA

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

Millennials more than double their share of superannuation funds over the decade

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Original article by
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Nov-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Millennials’ share of superannuation fund balances has more than doubled between September 2007 (6.4%) and September 2017 (14.6%). All three younger generations recorded gains in superannuation market share over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, for the six months to September 2017, satisfaction with the financial performance of industry funds was 58.5%, compared to retail funds on 56.9%. Retail funds increased their satisfaction rating by 0.7% over the last year, while the satisfaction rating for industry funds fell by 1.4%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

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