The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has said it will be beginning consultations with the financial services industry about producing superannuation fund performance data capable of allowing consumers to compare funds at investment option level.
The regulator has made its intentions clear during Senate Estimates, with APRA deputy chairman Ross Jones confirming the data which would be published would go "far beyond" what was currently being used for prudential purposes.
Investment level performance compiled by APRA would be directly relevant to financial planners assisting their clients and meeting best interests obligations.
"The consultation process will occur in the second half of this year. It will certainly go beyond what we have," he said.
"It will most definitely pick up investment options. It will also provide more granular information than is currently available. It is information that goes beyond the standard prudential purposes," Jones said.
Under questioning from Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby, Jones acknowledged that it might not be possible to look at the around 14,000 investment options currently available in the superannuation sector.
"It may well be that we do not go down to every single investment option. It may well be that we choose the top 10 or 20 or something," he said.
"We will need to look at and discuss with industry the merits," Jones said.
"If you are going down to the circumstances where a particular fund has hundreds of investment options, it may not be in the fund's interest to supply all that information in terms of cost. It may well be that our systems are not capable of processing it," he said.
