The corporate watchdog has found that financial advice provided by superannuation funds has overall been “generally appropriate”, with quality of advice being similar across retail and industry funds
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) ‘Report 639 Financial advice by superannuation funds’ looked at 25 super funds and how they helped members obtain financial advice.
ASIC Commissioner, Danielle Press, said: “We recognise that inappropriate superannuation advice can have a significant detrimental impact on members’ future financial security. Where we did see some risk of detriment, we will be following up with the advice provider and requiring that they review and remediate the affected member.
“More broadly, proper oversight of advice fee deductions from superannuation accounts for all advice, not just advice provided by superannuation trustees, is an area of ongoing focus for ASIC working with APRA.”
Press noted that the quality of advice was found to be similar across retail and industry funds.
“Due to the different sample sizes we used in our work however, it is not possible to properly compare the overall quality of advice based on all four fund types, and our findings are presented on an aggregate basis,” she said.
“We will continue to monitor developments in advice services offered by funds through our regular engagement with trustees and take action as required.”
The future of superannuation policy remains uncertain, with further reforms potentially on the horizon as the Albanese government seeks to curb the use of superannuation as a bequest vehicle.
Superannuation funds will have two options for charging fees for the advice provided by the new class of adviser.
The proposed reforms have been described as a key step towards delivering better products and retirement experiences for members, with many noting financial advice remains the “urgent missing piece” of the puzzle.
APRA’s latest data has revealed that superannuation funds spent $1.3 billion on advice fees, with the vast majority sent to external financial advisers.
How inconvenient!