The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has detailed the manner in which it is looking at financial advice provided within superannuation funds including whether the fees charged are reasonable.
The regulator has signalled that it is looking at the fees deducted from superannuation fund member balances and whether they are actually fair.
Under questioning by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, the regulator has made clear that it is looking to impose a consistent approach to advice fees across the superannuation industry.
ASIC commissioner, Danielle Press told the committee that the regulator was looking at the fees issue alongside insurance inside superannuation, including claims handling.
“We’re looking at advice in superannuation, in particular around where fees are deducted from superannuation funds and whether or not they are reasonable, and whether or not the services are actually being delivered for those fees,” she said.
“We’re also looking at the disclosure of costs and fees, and trying to get some form of consistency across the industry around what is actually taking out of these funds appropriately or inappropriately,” Press said.
Press said that ASIC did not mandate fee levels and she did not believe it should, but that the regulator wanted to make sure that fees that were being withdrawn from funds were reasonable and fair.
“…but we are not setting a limit on the fee level as such; it’s more about ensuring that the deduction of the fee is a reasonable fee to deduct,” she said.
