The outgoing chief executive of ING Australia, Paul Bedbrook, has expressed concern at the Government’s decision to allow gearing within superannuation funds.
Bedbrook, who finishes up in his chief executive officer role at the end of the month, told Money Management he believes allowing gearing within superannuation to be the thin end of the wedge and that superannuation should be purely for retirement.
He said that superannuation had, up until now, represented a huge pool of ungeared money that acted as a buffer to the system.
Bedbrook said this buffering effect was important in the context of incidents such as Opes Prime.
“And I am in the old school in thinking that there should not be any gearing in super,” he said. “I think that is the thin edge of the wedge … superannuation should be purely for retirement or the event of hardship.”
Bedbrook said that the defined contribution system was excellent with respect to superannuation, but it had not been tested with respect to whether it delivered a viable retirement.
