Insights
Allow our network of experts and external partners provide the vision, creativity, and solutions you need to stay ahead of markets and industry trends.
Market Review
Insights and investment overviews through quarterly reporting and advice.
Superannuation Insights
Superannuation specific quarterly insights and overview reports.
Publications and Media Exposure
Publications and historical media coverage.
Market Review
Insights and investment overviews through quarterly reporting and advice.
Superannuation Insights
Superannuation specific quarterly insights and overview reports.
Publications and Media Exposure
Publications and historical media coverage.
Special Feature: Addressing the Performance Gap: ASIC’s Call for Enhanced Governance in Superannuation Choice Products
In February 2024, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) released Report 779 titled "Superannuation choice products: What focus is there on performance?" in the realm of superannuation, spotlighting the role of trustees, financial advisers, and Australian financial services licensees.
The document underscores a concerning lack of focus on performance and transparency, especially concerning underperforming investment options within choice superannuation products. This detailed investigation by ASIC reveals that these key stakeholders wield significant influence over member investment choices, with a direct impact on their retirement outcomes.
Special Feature: Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards
In June 2023, the Australian government released the second consultation paper on climate-related financial disclosure to ensure greater transparency and accountability of large businesses and financial institutions regarding their climate-related plans, financial risks, and opportunities.
The reform principles are designed by the Australian Treasury to:
- Support climate goals of net zero emissions by 2050,
- Improve quantity, quality, and comparability of disclosures,
- Assist businesses, investors, regulators, and the public in having a clear and common understanding about obligations for entities to disclose climate-related financial risks,
- Align with international reporting practice (e.g. IFRS Accounting Standards),
- Be scalable and flexible to accommodate future developments in the global baseline,
- Be allied to risk.
Special Feature: YFYS Performance Test for Choice Funds
In April 2023, The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) published the most recent Choice Heatmap, providing insight into member outcomes in the superannuation product segment where investment options are actively chosen by consumers.
Choice products, constituting 46% (amounting to $859 billion as of June 30, 2020) of total APRA-regulated superannuation member benefits, are options that members actively opt to participate in. These products are usually characterized by greater complexity and diversity compared to default MySuper products. The distribution of member accounts and member benefits in APRA-regulated superannuation entities as at 30 June 2020.
Special Feature: Superannuation Data Transformation Project
Superannuation funds and their Trustees are required, under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001, and it’s reporting standards to provide data to APRA. The process to date has been an onerous burden on Trustees and their respective administrators.
APRA’s Superannuation Data Transformation (SDT) project aims to bring about positive changes in the superannuation industry by ensuring better data management practices, fostering transparency, and ultimately benefiting superannuation fund members. The objective is to enhance the compatibility and consistency of reported data by replacing data collection via Excel-based manual process to a more efficient automated scalable solution to improve the depth, breadth, and quality of its superannuation data collection.
Special Feature: Superannuation Data Transformation – Phase 1
APRA released the first in a series of new statistical publications that leverage new reporting standards implemented in Phase 1 of the Superannuation Data Transformation project to increase the transparency of the superannuation industry in October 2022.
The new report contains information on the number and types of products and investment options available in the superannuation industry for the first time, and the frequency of publishing member demographics data will be changed from annually to quarterly
Special Feature: Investment in Social Housing
The Australian federal government has met with the superannuation industry encouraging investment in social and affordable housing to tackle the supply shortage.
Social housing in Australia
As released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in 2022, the social housing program includes four sectors, and their respective number of households within 10 years are shown in the figure below:
• Public housing
• State-owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH)
• Community housing
• Indigenous community housing
Special Feature: Actuaries Institute Retirement Policy Review
The recently released Actuaries Institute review into Australia’s Retirement income for Australians, titled “Securing Adequate Retirement Incomes for an Ageing Australia” was conducted over the course of the past year and involved more than 200 actuaries who provided thorough research and recommendations.
The review assessed the current superannuation guarantee level and what the optimal level of superannuation should look like based on an individual’s personal circumstances in order to achieve a desired level, use of the family home in retirement, how advice can result in better use of superannuation savings and the Age Pension means test. The review concluded “Australia’s retirement system should be fairer, simpler and more efficient while the role of guidance and advice should be enhanced”.
Special Feature: Self Managed Super Funds
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regulated funds. Generally speaking, SMSFs are private superannuation funds. They are required to have four or fewer members, all members are trustees or directors of the trustee company, no trustee of the fund receives any remuneration for their services as trustee and no members are employees of other members.
Having an SMSF can provide greater control for some individuals, having full oversight into all aspects of your super, rather than relying on an industry or retail fund to manager your super. While this may sound appealing, managing super independently, it does involve experience, education, management, compliance and administration costs as well as a detailed oversight into the superannuation environment.
While professional super funds are regulated by APRA (Australian Prudential Authority), SMSFs are regulated by the ATO, meaning that regulatory oversight differs. For example, in the instance of investment theft or fraud, funds regulated by APRA can apply to the government for compensation which if funded via an industry levy, whereas SMSFs cannot, with the pursuit of compensation coming out of your own expense.
Special Feature: Addressing the Performance Gap: ASIC’s Call for Enhanced Governance in Superannuation Choice Products
In February 2024, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) released Report 779 titled "Superannuation choice products: What focus is there on performance?" in the realm of superannuation, spotlighting the role of trustees, financial advisers, and Australian financial services licensees.
The document underscores a concerning lack of focus on performance and transparency, especially concerning underperforming investment options within choice superannuation products. This detailed investigation by ASIC reveals that these key stakeholders wield significant influence over member investment choices, with a direct impact on their retirement outcomes.
Special Feature: Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards
In June 2023, the Australian government released the second consultation paper on climate-related financial disclosure to ensure greater transparency and accountability of large businesses and financial institutions regarding their climate-related plans, financial risks, and opportunities.
The reform principles are designed by the Australian Treasury to:
- Support climate goals of net zero emissions by 2050,
- Improve quantity, quality, and comparability of disclosures,
- Assist businesses, investors, regulators, and the public in having a clear and common understanding about obligations for entities to disclose climate-related financial risks,
- Align with international reporting practice (e.g. IFRS Accounting Standards),
- Be scalable and flexible to accommodate future developments in the global baseline,
- Be allied to risk.
Special Feature: YFYS Performance Test for Choice Funds
In April 2023, The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) published the most recent Choice Heatmap, providing insight into member outcomes in the superannuation product segment where investment options are actively chosen by consumers.
Choice products, constituting 46% (amounting to $859 billion as of June 30, 2020) of total APRA-regulated superannuation member benefits, are options that members actively opt to participate in. These products are usually characterized by greater complexity and diversity compared to default MySuper products. The distribution of member accounts and member benefits in APRA-regulated superannuation entities as at 30 June 2020.
Special Feature: Superannuation Data Transformation Project
Superannuation funds and their Trustees are required, under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001, and it’s reporting standards to provide data to APRA. The process to date has been an onerous burden on Trustees and their respective administrators.
APRA’s Superannuation Data Transformation (SDT) project aims to bring about positive changes in the superannuation industry by ensuring better data management practices, fostering transparency, and ultimately benefiting superannuation fund members. The objective is to enhance the compatibility and consistency of reported data by replacing data collection via Excel-based manual process to a more efficient automated scalable solution to improve the depth, breadth, and quality of its superannuation data collection.
Special Feature: Superannuation Data Transformation – Phase 1
APRA released the first in a series of new statistical publications that leverage new reporting standards implemented in Phase 1 of the Superannuation Data Transformation project to increase the transparency of the superannuation industry in October 2022.
The new report contains information on the number and types of products and investment options available in the superannuation industry for the first time, and the frequency of publishing member demographics data will be changed from annually to quarterly
Special Feature: Investment in Social Housing
The Australian federal government has met with the superannuation industry encouraging investment in social and affordable housing to tackle the supply shortage.
Social housing in Australia
As released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in 2022, the social housing program includes four sectors, and their respective number of households within 10 years are shown in the figure below:
• Public housing
• State-owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH)
• Community housing
• Indigenous community housing
Special Feature: Actuaries Institute Retirement Policy Review
The recently released Actuaries Institute review into Australia’s Retirement income for Australians, titled “Securing Adequate Retirement Incomes for an Ageing Australia” was conducted over the course of the past year and involved more than 200 actuaries who provided thorough research and recommendations.
The review assessed the current superannuation guarantee level and what the optimal level of superannuation should look like based on an individual’s personal circumstances in order to achieve a desired level, use of the family home in retirement, how advice can result in better use of superannuation savings and the Age Pension means test. The review concluded “Australia’s retirement system should be fairer, simpler and more efficient while the role of guidance and advice should be enhanced”.
Special Feature: Self Managed Super Funds
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regulated funds. Generally speaking, SMSFs are private superannuation funds. They are required to have four or fewer members, all members are trustees or directors of the trustee company, no trustee of the fund receives any remuneration for their services as trustee and no members are employees of other members.
Having an SMSF can provide greater control for some individuals, having full oversight into all aspects of your super, rather than relying on an industry or retail fund to manager your super. While this may sound appealing, managing super independently, it does involve experience, education, management, compliance and administration costs as well as a detailed oversight into the superannuation environment.
While professional super funds are regulated by APRA (Australian Prudential Authority), SMSFs are regulated by the ATO, meaning that regulatory oversight differs. For example, in the instance of investment theft or fraud, funds regulated by APRA can apply to the government for compensation which if funded via an industry levy, whereas SMSFs cannot, with the pursuit of compensation coming out of your own expense.