The chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), James Shipton has specifically referenced superannuation funds as needing to lift their game in the context of putting members’ best interest first, rather than pursuing commercial outcomes.
Addressing the Financial Services Council (FSC) Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne and barely a week out from the Royal Commission dealing with superannuation, Shipton made clear that superannuation funds were part of the trust deficit which currently exists in the financial services industry.
And he said that superannuation funds were in the singular position of having to hold other peoples’ money within a compulsory system.
Referring to super funds, he said there had been “too much focus on exploiting opportunities to make money from Australians when there should have been ore focus on being custodians of other peoples’ money”.
Shipton specifically pointed to problems ASIC had identified in the superannuation industry such as “exploiting consumer disengagement in the system” by making it difficult for people to opt-out of insurance inside superannuation, misleading promotional activity, and poor financial advice around self managed superannuation fund establishment and super switching.
He said ASIC would moving to specifically address these issues.
