Industry fund in hot water over super projections

An industry fund which claimed its members could be more than $200,000 better off than those in retail super funds has agreed to an enforceable undertaking after concerns were raised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The enforceable undertaking relates to documentation distributed to HostPlus members in March and April which contained a claim that members could be up to $212,000 better off on the basis of the difference between current fees paid by members of industry superannuation funds and the average fees paid by members of a retail superannuation fund.

The HostPlus documentation appears to have been distributed before ASIC raised concerns about the content of the industry superannuation fund’s choice of fund advertising campaign.

ASIC said it had informed HostPlus that it considered that the $212,000 statement and the Independent Research Statement contained in the material were “misleading or likely to mislead” and that HostPlus had initiated a review of the statements following enforcement action taken by ASIC against Industry Fund Services.

ASIC said that as a result of the review, HostPlus had ceased distribution of the material and had published amended versions of the material.

It said that while HostPlus had denied breaching any statutory obligation, the fund had acknowledged ASIC’s concerns and had offered an enforceable undertaking which included refraining from using the $212,000 statement or any similar projection, writing to new members to explain the position, publishing a notice drawing members attention to the change and providing a report to ASIC detailing any complaints made in relations to the statements.