Although most media coverage following release of the Final Report from the Hayne Royal Commission has been about its impact on Australia’s banking system, the fallout for the super and financial advice industries is likely to be every bit as significant. The three-volume final report from the Royal Commission into ... Read more
Royal Commission: 9 recommendations for superannuation
The government today released the Final Report into the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. Below are the 9 recommendations concerning superannuation. See also the Royal Commission's 10 recommendations for financial advice. Trustees’ ... Read more
Superannuation Guarantee: Many Aussies miss out on SG increase
Now that we into our fifth financial year of a higher Superannuation Guarantee rate of 9.5%, you can expect some difficult conversations to continue between employers and employees as more salaried employees discover that the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) increase of 0.25%, which took the SG rate to 9.5%, does not ... Read more
MySuper: 113 super funds now available
Note: This article provides a complete list of official, authorised MySuper products. This list will be updated regularly if any additional MySuper products are authorised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). This article was last updated on 10 October 2018. If you are looking for a list of all ... Read more
MySuper: Now at a super fund near you
If you believed the federal government’s public relations campaign, MySuper should have delivered you the equivalent of nirvana in superannuation – low fees, strong investment performance, financial security and a worry-free retirement. Pardon? You didn’t see the government’s MySuper publicity campaign? I am not ... Read more
Boom! Productivity Commission super report finds the emperor has no clothes
Reading the Productivity Commission’s draft report on the superannuation system reminds me very much of the Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. The child in the crowd calls out that the emperor is wearing no clothes, even though the emperor’s retinue, resident sycophants and loyal subjects ... Read more
What the Productivity Commission says about SMSFs
In May 2018, the Productivity Commission released its draft report into the superannuation system. The report also made some interesting findings on self-managed super funds. In the 571-page draft report, Productivity Commission Draft Report on ‘Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness (April 2018), ... Read more
Productivity Commission and super: 22 draft recommendations
In May 2018, the Productivity Commission released its draft report into the superannuation system, which also included its recommendations into alternative models for allocating default fund members to products. The PC produced 22 draft recommendations (set out below), and for each draft recommendation, we list ... Read more
Productivity Commission identifies 41 major issues with superannuation system
In May 2018, the Productivity Commission released its draft report into the superannuation system, which also included its recommendations into alternative models for allocating default fund members to super products. The PC released 41 draft findings (covering 11 main areas, which are set out below). The PC has ... Read more
Fee hike for small super accounts
If you have less than $1000 in your super account, or you have children or grandchildren with part-time jobs (or starting their first full-time job), then you will be very interested in this article. Not so long ago, the super rules used to look after fund members with small super account. If super account had less ... Read more
Quotas: More independent super trustees needed
Australian superannuation funds need to appoint more independent directors to trustee boards of super funds, says the federal government in its latest discussion paper. Currently, most trustee directors on superannuation boards are not considered independent. On 28 November 2013, the Assistant Treasurer, Senator ... Read more
SG paid easy: just add DHS (SG clearing house)
If you run a small or medium-sized business and have employees, or work for a small business as an employee, then you should read this article. In July 2010, the ALP Federal Government launched a free superannuation clearing house for businesses that have up to 19 employees. In September 2013, the ALP announced that ... Read more
THE SOAPBOX: Cooper declares war on retail funds and financial advisers
The Super System Review chaired by Jeremy Cooper has gone back to basics for our future super needs: no frills, lower fees and no more commissions leading to the inevitable, slow death of the financial adviser/retail fund love-in. Here’s something old that’s become new. The Super System Review has announced in a ... Read more