Meanwhile, super regulators are urging funds to improve members’ retirement outcomes.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) are calling on superannuation trustees to step up efforts to monitor and measure the impact of their strategies.
ASIC and APRA want the sector to press ahead with implementing the compact’s reforms and say the funds’ responses highlight several challenges in implementing it.
These include uncertainty regarding:
- Financial advisory framework
- Privacy, security, and cost concerns of collecting more member data
- Lack of member involvement and financial capacity.
Margaret Cole, vice president of APRA, said: “The most worrying finding from this survey is the lack of progress made by administrators in monitoring the success of their strategies, especially as this has been highlighted as one of the key areas in need of improvement in the thematic context. audit report.
“Without effective success metrics, how can trustees know if their strategies are working? Members deserve better.”
ASIC said the funds have a vital role to play in improving the retirement outcomes of its members, with around three million Australians expected to join the six million already eligible to access their retirement savings over the next decade.
The peak body for super funds, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), responded to the pulse of ASIC and APRA by saying it was just the start of the rollout of the pact and that the industry had made “progress” in implementing it in a “relatively” short period of time since its introduction”.
The ASFA said superfunds were committed to better understanding their members’ pension needs and had made substantial investments to provide members with access to pension-focused information.
Related reading: ASFA, ASIC, SMH
