The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is taking a close look at the liquidity of superannuation funds.
APRA member, Helen Rowell has confirmed to Senate Estimates this week the regulator is "progressively having a deep-dive look" at how the industry is implementing new and heightened requirements.
"We started with conflicts, management, and insurance. We are now moving to investment governance with a particular focus on liquidity," she said.
Acting committee chair, Tasmanian Liberal Senator, David Bushby asked whether APRA required funds to have daily unit pricing policies so that it could ensure that members who stayed in funds that faced asset devaluations were not disadvantaged by being left in funds with substantial write-downs.
Rowell said the regulator did not have requirements for daily unit pricing but that the vast majority of the superannuation industry had moved to daily unit pricing.
"But there are still some participants in the industry that are on less than daily unit pricing," she said.
Deloitte Access Economics has raised concerns about the government’s recent changes to the Future Fund’s investment mandate, questioning the necessity and implications of the reforms.
An industry body has praised the strong backing from institutional investors for Australia’s transition to renewable energy.
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.
Jim Chalmers has defended changes to the Future Fund’s mandate, referring to himself as a “big supporter” of the sovereign wealth fund, amid fierce opposition from the Coalition, which has pledged to reverse any changes if it wins next year’s election.