Is the Pension Cap choking retirement incomes?



The Government’s Budget changes are continuing to impact retirement income flows, with the latest data released by specialist research house Dexx&r revealing retirement incomes cash flows as declining by 2.3 per cent in the year to December.
The Dexx&r data, looking at total retail and wholesale funds under management and administration (FUM/A), pointed to increased flows across all segments except retirement incomes which the company had been impacted by the Government’s $1.6 million pension cap.
Among the five largest retail and wholesale managers, Macquarie led the way with a 14.9 per cent increase to $113.1 billion, NAB with 12 per cent, the Commonwealth Bank 7.9 per cent, Westpac with 7.1 per cent and AMP with 5.5 per cent.
Looking at the retirement incomes data, the Dexx&r analysis said that during the December quarter net cash flows were negative $4.9 billion which represented a significant increase on the negative $3.5 billion recorded in the September 2017 quarter.
“This net cash outflow highlights the impact of the $1.6 million lifetime cap which took effect in July, 2017,” the analysis said.
Recommended for you
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
Australian investors are more confident than their APAC peers in reaching their financial goals and are targeting annual gains of more than 10 per cent, according to Fidelity International.
Zenith Investment Partners has lost its head of portfolio solutions Steven Tang after 17 years with the firm, the latest in a series of senior exits from the research house.