Slater and Gordon has launched a series of class actions aimed at retrieving retirement savings that may have been gouged from members by bank-owned super funds, with Commonwealth Bank-owned super fund, Colonial First State, and AMP super likely to be the first targets.
The allegations arise from evidence given before the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
“Slater and Gordon will take on the banks on behalf of millions of Australians whose retirement savings may have been gouged by bank-owned super funds lining their pockets,” the law firm said.
The firm alleges the big bank-backed super funds failed to obtain for members competitive cash interest rates on cash option funds, and charged exorbitant fees, affecting millions of members who held part or all of their superannuation in bank-owned funds.
Super funds had a “tremendous month” in November, according to new data.
Australia faces a decade of deficits, with the sum of deficits over the next four years expected to overshoot forecasts by $21.8 billion.
APRA has raised an alarm about gaps in how superannuation trustees are managing the risks associated with unlisted assets, after releasing the findings of its latest review.
Compared to how funds were allocated to March this year, industry super funds have slightly decreased their allocation to infrastructure in the six months to September – dropping from 11 per cent to 10.6 per cent, according to the latest APRA data.