Cooper defends work of super charter group
The man who chaired the former Labor Government’s so-called superannuation charter group, Jeremy Cooper, has argued that the Government’s forthcoming Financial Systems Review might yet see merit in pursuing the same objectives as the charter group.
Addressing the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) conference in Perth, Cooper acknowledged that the work undertaken by his charter group had been “binned” by the new Coalition Government but he suggested that this did not necessarily mean that the issues examined by the group were no longer relevant.
“I continue to hear people in the industry talking about those issues and the need to develop superannuation policy in a slow, thoughtful and more thorough way,” he said.
Cooper, chairman of Retirement Incomes at Challenger, also suggested that the forthcoming Financial Systems Review would need to ensure Australia abandoned some of its more unique financial vehicles such as Managed Investment Schemes and adopted more globally-accepted approaches.
He also pointed to the need for the development of a domestic bond market and for greater attention to be directed towards the post-retirement phase in circumstances where pensions had been precluded from being a part of MySuper products.
Elsewhere in the discussion around the Financial Systems Review, ASFA director of investments and economy Gordon Noble urged a united approach by the major superannuation industry bodies towards submissions and policy development.
In doing so he cited the presence of Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive Tom Garcia and the possible involvement of the Financial Services Council (FSC).
At its annual conference in August, the FSC announced a policy-making relationship with the Industry Super Network, now rebranded as Industry Super Australia.
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