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Some industry representatives have expressed concerns that the Self-Managed Superannuation Fund Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) is not having a real impact on industry debate.
At a panel at the SPAA conference, Graeme Colley, national technical manager at ING, said SPAA was missing a huge opportunity to lead the rest of the industry.
“We need to be standing up and saying we work hard, we train hard, we do the right thing; we should actually be seen as a model for other areas of the [superannuation] sector to follow, rather than having people … throwing rocks at us,” Colley said.
However, Sharyn Long, SPAA chairman, objected to that view, saying the group was in front of the Cooper Review, had influenced its outcome and was highly regarded in the industry.
Colley said it was good to have a relationship with the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, but it was the public perception that needed work.
“I’m sure everyone would like to see SPAA knocking on doors … to put it out there … that this is the best industry,” he said.
“My personal view is that there’s a mismatch there,” he said.
Catherine Nance, partner and actuary at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the Minister for Financial Services, Chris Bowen, and the chairman of the Super System Review, Jeremy Cooper, had shown their belief that the self-managed superannuation fund sector was highly credible and a very good alternative for many workers.
