The announcement that the Government’s superannuation performance test will include administration fees and will be more accurate has been welcomed by Super Consumers Australia.
Super Consumers’ director, Xavier O’Halloran, said admin fees were one of the biggest drains on people’s retirement savings.
“Treasury modelling shows including admin fees will turn up the heat on even more funds, in a move that is likely to drive fast improvements to the super savings of a million more people,” he said.
“These reforms will significantly boost the outcomes for consumers, but there remains work to be done on the Your Future, Your Super package. Currently, not all investment options face scrutiny, this needs to change and be enshrined in legislation.
“It also gives wide discretion to the minister of the day to ban investments. We think scrutiny is a good idea, but we’d be better served by a regulator following a clear process.”
O’Halloran said the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC) should be the entities to jointly exercise this discretionary power under a similar regime to other financial products they regulate.
“Predictably, the industry has used scare tactics to sink the reforms altogether rather than offer constructive feedback,” he said.
“It's time for funds to put members first and stop trying to delay reforms. Funds have been on notice for many years that they need to drop fees and lift performance and have nearly had a year to prepare for this test. If funds aren't ready, they aren't doing right by their members.”
The super performance test would roll on 1 July, 2021, and the Senate Economics Legislation Committee was expected to release its report on the reforms on Thursday.
Comments
Xavier O’Halloran "....in a move that is likely to drive fast improvements to the super savings of a million more people,”
This guy is quite the "expert".
Someone remind me, what qualifications does he have in this area?
Let me guess - a PEP Degree? I don't even need to search for that. I know I'll be right. You know, the same education that politicians, journalists and wannabe marxist autocrats all have.
According to his LinkedIn profile absolutely zero qualifications in any relevant field. Social sciences, journalism, and law are his academic areas of study - hardly sufficient to qualify as a superannuation expert?
"Super Consumers" is part of Choice. O'Halloran is one of the left wing political activists who have hijacked Choice to impose their narrow ideological prejudice on society. The wants and needs of ordinary Australian consumers are sadly no longer represented.
Just nationalise super like the Kiwis and get on with it if this is where they want to keep going. The death by a thousand cuts isn't helping anyone.
Government run super for everyone is actually what should have happened right from the start. Unfortunately when compulsory super was introduced the unions used it as an opportunity to become an entrenched provider. It gave them a vehicle for siphoning off workers' compulsory retirement savings, to replace the dwindling amounts of workers' voluntary union fees. It also gave them more power over employers. The rest as they say, is infamy.
Ironically the Libs are now far more likely to nationalise super than Labor.
I'm interested to see what balance they are going to use for this purpose. If you take Australian Super's member fee of $117 p.a. that's a fee of 0.47% on a $25k balance, 0.23% on a $50k balance but only 0.06% on a $200k balance. 0.47% coming off their net return each year makes a material difference but 0.06% doesn't.
Currently industry funds don't report returns net of admin/member fees.
Is this guy giving unlicensed advise?
"I also work with a team of finance experts to directly help people make better decisions. I get excited by cutting through spin and making the complex simple, so all people can confidently make decisions about their financial well being."
So, he uses his position in CHOICE to remove Grandfathered Commissions which in turn releases thousands of clients from Financial Planners as uneconomic.
He then establish a new outfit.
"I’m currently the Director of Super Consumers Australia, a new organisation raising the voices of Australians on low and middle incomes to ensure everyone gets a fair outcome from the $3 trillion superannuation industry."
Ready made job of himself. Who is funding all of this? Tax Payer via ASIC via CHOICE?
WBC and CBA funded it with a $40million "fine" overseen by ASIC and excluding the sitting LNP government. Who was Deputy ASIC Commissioner at the time? Who used to be CEO of Choice?
"It also gives wide discretion to the minister of the day to ban investments."
Gee, imagine what an ALP minister would do?
They won't be out of power forever.
Who set up Choice again? Wasn't the ALP was it?
Choice was set up 50 odd years ago as an independent subscription based consumer association.
Then about 10 years ago it was hijacked by political activists such as Zinn and Kell, and turned it into a left wing political group. It lost touch with the requirements of ordinary consumers, who cancelled their subscriptions in droves. Choice went cap in hand to the government begging for money. This is how the whole siphoning of money via ASIC started. It needs to stop. Right now. Tim Wilson??
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