Super news for October 2025

The Retail Employees Superannuation Fund (Rest) has paid two infringement notices totalling $37,560 issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for alleged false or misleading representations relating to insurance cover.

The infringement notices relate to Rest inadvertently activating insurance cover for more than 2,000 members between June 2024 to January 2025. During that period, Rest issued annual statements and emails to some fund members indicating they held insurance policies in the fund, when those members had previously cancelled, chosen not to receive, lost or otherwise not held insurance cover in the fund.

“ASIC alleges that Rest made false or misleading representations that Rest had a right to activate insurance cover for the member and, as a result, deduct insurance premiums from the member’s superannuation account, in circumstances where Rest had no such right,” ASIC said in a statement.

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Rest paid the infringement notices on 22 September 2025.

Macquarie agrees to pay Shield members

ASIC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Macquarie Investment Management Ltd (MIML) and accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from MIML to pay members 100% of the amounts they invested in Shield Master Fund, less any amounts withdrawn. 

The Federal Court proceedings against MIML relate to admissions that it did not act efficiently, honestly and fairly by failing to place Shield on a watch list for heightened monitoring.

“This is an important outcome that stems from the significant losses that threatened thousands of members’ retirement savings after they used Macquarie’s platform to invest their super in Shield,” ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said.

“Many members thought their funds were safe when they used Macquarie’s super platform to invest in Shield, which had no track record,” she said.

As a superannuation trustee, MIML oversaw approximately $321 million in super investments into Shield by around 3,000 of its members between 2022 and 2023.

APRA admonishes platform trustees

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has written a letter to superannuation trustees calling on them to “accelerate and escalate efforts to safeguard members’ investments held in platform products”.

The letter follows ASIC’s investigation and enforcement actions relating to the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian managed investment schemes.

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The letter calls on platform trustees to lift standards relating to onboarding, ongoing monitoring and promoting member outcomes. It also outlines APRA’s observations on weaker and current better industry practices.

“The fact that First Guardian and Shield managed investment schemes were made available to members by some platform trustees has exposed members to the risk of significant loss and uncertainty,” APRA deputy chair Margaret Cole said.

Australians not confident about retirement

An inaugural Retirement Confidence Pulse by AMP found that just 50% of Australians are confident about their retirement.

AMP surveyed 2000 Australians across different genders, ages, family status, income, employment and life stages for the annual Pulse survey. It found that people in their forties were among the least confident about their retirement, with less than two in five saying they were confident. 

“As this Pulse shows, despite growing super balances and national wealth, too many feel financially insecure about life after work – an issue that needs to be front and centre for policymakers and the superannuation industry,” AMP chief executive Alexis George said.

Men were more confident about their retirement than women – three in five versus two in five. And older, more affluent workers were much more confident about retirement, with 87% of over 65-year-olds earning between $190,000 and $250,000 expressing their confidence.

Those aged 20 to 39 were more confident about their retirement than some of the older cohorts, with men in that age bracket saying they were 64% confident about their retirement and women saying they were 41% confident.

TelstraSuper and Aware Super progress merger

Aware Super and Telstra Super have signed a binding heads-of-agreement for a merger. The combined fund would have $235 billion in funds under management and over 1.3 million members.

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The two super funds said that TelstraSuper members would benefit from Aware Super’s lower fees and its track record of delivering strong investment returns.

“Aware Super’s strong member-first ethos, commitment to long-term performance and focus on delivering better retirement outcomes reflect the principles TelstraSuper has always stood for,” TelstraSuper chair Anne-Marie O’Loghlin said.

“We think it makes sense to join a fund whose values so closely align with our own,” she added.

“TelstraSuper’s legacy of personalised service and member loyalty aligns perfectly with ours, while their corporate expertise will significantly enhance our offering,” Aware Super chair Christine McLoughlin AM said.

The merger is expected to occur towards the end of the 2025–26 financial year.