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Home News

Industry funds signal opposition to super reforms

The advocacy group for industry super funds has accused the government of carving retail funds out of of its new benchmarking requirements, as it claimed its own funds’ advertising campaigns had been found to be in members’ best interests.

by Staff Writer
December 15, 2020
in News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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A grudging consensus on the need for a superannuation shake-up has given way to fighting as ISA launched a broadside against the Morrison government and its Your Future, Your Super reforms, which the lobby group called a “regulatory kill switch” that would shield “sub-par” retail funds from performance tests. 

“We thought the government had at last focused on reform that put members first, but instead they’re planning a feast for the banks and retail funds and they’ll be dining out on workers’ savings,” said ISA chief Bernie Dean. 

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“The government is making countless dud retail super funds and investments immune from any meaningful performance tests, effectively giving some of the worst performing financial outfits in Australia a licence to go on fee gouging. It’s as if the carnage we saw at the royal commission never happened, and instead we’ve got the government letting the foxes into the henhouse.”

The ghost of the royal commission continues to haunt the Morrison government, with its opponents quick to point out the high-level of reluctance to launch an inquiry into dodgy behaviour at Australia’s biggest financial institutions. At the same time, the matter of advertising has become a thorn in the side of the industry funds, which are continually forced to defend spending on media campaigns in the order of tens of millions of dollars. 

“Industry funds’ successful advertising and advocacy programs are a reported target of the proposed laws, despite the banking royal commission finding these programs were in the best financial interest of members, as they warned workers about potential adverse government policy and helped connect Australians with a super fund that delivered better returns,” ISA said. 

ISA said it supported the spirit of the reforms and called for “sensible changes”, including the use of net return as a performance benchmark and the forced closure of chronically underperforming funds, as well as the sequencing of reforms to ensure the performance measures are implemented before stapling occurs. 

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Comments 3

  1. Anonymous says:
    5 years ago

    If Industry Super does not like it – then I approve.

    Reply
  2. ISA Union Scumbags says:
    5 years ago

    Corrupt union scum bags who should never have been allowed near anyone else’s money! Look at the filthy cockroaches whine about others getting a carve out when we know they have enjoyed that for decades, along with lying with their utter BS ”performance reporting” figures

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    5 years ago

    Yes, the Industry Fund chiefs want to dine out on the workers savings all by themselves, including their intrafund advice scam, where fund members get fleeced for over $100 million pa in ongoing “advice” fees, with most receiving no service for those fees. This is why young workers should be able to direct their super to reduce their home mortgages, so none of these fund managers get to dine on their compulsory savings.

    Reply

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