The strongest determinant of performance for superannuation fund members is not simply scale, but the commercial model and profit orientation, according to Industry Super Australia (ISA).
ISA has used a submission to the Productivity Commission (PC) to once again stress its belief that industry funds outperform their retail counterparts.
Pointing to previous questions posed by the PC, the ISA noted that it had asked whether the greatest risk a member faced in superannuation was being defaulted into a poor-performing product.
It claimed this was not true, and that the statistical evidence showed “that the greatest risk to a member is being sold into a choice product”.
“The degree of risk is a function of the probability of a harm (in this case, low net returns), and the magnitude of that harm (in this case, the degree to which the returns are low),” the ISA submission said.
While acknowledging that some default funds fell into the bottom quartile in terms of net returns, the ISA submission argued that more than two-thirds had achieved returns in the top quartile.
“This means that, probabilistically, there is greater than a two-in-three chance that an account that was established through the default system will have received top quartile long-term net returns,” the submission said.
Introducing reforms for strengthening simpler and faster claims handling and better servicing for First Nations members are critical priorities, according to the Super Members Council.
The Commonwealth Bank has warned that uncapped superannuation concessions may be “unsustainable” and has called for the introduction of a superannuation cap.
Superannuation funds have posted another year of strong returns, but this time, the gains weren’t powered solely by Silicon Valley.
Australia’s $4.1 trillion superannuation system is doing more than funding retirements – it’s quietly fuelling the nation’s productivity, lifting GDP, and adding thousands to workers’ pay packets, according to new analysis from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).