Industry superannuation funds have acknowledged that the remuneration scrutiny directed at financial planners will ultimately shift to salaries paid to super fund executives.
Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) officer Andrew Barr has told the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds that the scrutiny on remuneration may result in “the blowtorch being turned back on us”.
Explaining the AIST’s approach to the Cooper review, he said the likelihood of scrutiny being turned onto fund executive remuneration has resulted in a recommendation that funds make the information public. Barr said the AIST was recommending that member funds publish the remuneration of their top five executives in aggregate.
However, he said it would be open to funds to provide more details if they saw fit.
Barr said the AIST has also recommended that superannuation ratings houses make their commercial arrangements with funds more transparent.
He said that if a fund has paid to be rated, members should be made aware of the nature of the transaction.