Govt can win quickly on annuities
The new Federal Government could score a quick win in the financial services sector by dealing with some of the regulatory barriers impacting annuities, according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive Tom Garcia.
Participating in a roundtable in Melbourne conducted by Money Management's sister publication Super Review and sponsored by CommInsure, Garcia said that while his organisation was not intending to give the companies providing annuities "a leg up", it made sense to work on the regulatory barriers impacting annuities.
"We don't want to give them a leg up, we just think there ought to be a level playing field for all post-retirement products, and then let the marketplace work out what is best," he said.
Garcia said that the AIST was disappointed that the new Abbott Government had committed to delaying the time-table for increasing the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, but suggested that a further increase to 9.5 per cent was possible within the former Labor Government's time-table.
"We think they might get caught on 9.25 per cent and it will probably rise to 9.5 per cent just because of the way the Senate has rolled out, but we will wait and see," he said.
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