A beleaguered AMP Super is facing another class action, with Slater and Gordon yesterday filing a legal action on behalf of more than two million Australians.
The class action was announced in early May by the plaintiff law firm, and would focus on the allegedly excessive fees charged by the fund for administering MySuper accounts, the low interest rate members received and fees charged on its cash-only fund options.
“Superannuation members trusted that AMP would act in their best interests when managing their retirement savings. Instead, they charged exorbitant fees,” Slater and Gordon senior associate, Nathan Rapoport, said.
“Both AMP Super and NM Super, as trustees of the funds, should have taken steps to secure the best deal for members on a commercial arms-length basis.
“Members whose funds were deposited in cash-only investment options were short-changed potentially thousands of dollars because they received interest rates below what a reasonable and diligent trustee could have obtained on the open market.
“These customers would have been better off keeping their retirement savings under their bed.”
An AMP spokesperson said that it would “vigorously defend” itself against the allegations, which had been the firm’s response to the various class actions it had faced since the Banking Royal Commission.
This particular class action would seek compensation for conduct dating back to 1 July, 2008, and was funded by Therium Litigation Finance.
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.