Despite all the debate around the impact of commissions on superannuation fund balances, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has admitted it has never collected specific data on the issue.
Providing an answer to a question on notice from Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby, the regulator said, "APRA does not collect data on commissions paid by superannuation funds as part of its current statistical collection".
Bushby had used a Senate Estimates Committee hearing to ask APRA officials whether they knew the degree to which commissions impacted superannuation fund balances.
"Do you have a feel for the percentage of funds that come in – particularly the retail funds – that attract commissions?" he asked.
The degree to which commissions affect superannuation fund balances represented a central element of the Industry Super Network’s "compare the pair" advertising campaign, but was reliant on research from commercial ratings houses such as SuperRatings.
