New data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s (AFCA’s) datacube shows a decrease of complaints in the superannuation fund trustee/adviser sector for 2H 2019.
They had received 2,787 complaints, with 880 resolved at Registration and Referral, between 1 July, 2019, to 31 December, 2019; compared to 3,223 complaints from 1 November, 2018, to 30 June, 2019.
If a complaint was unresolved at the Registration and Referral stage, it progressed to Case Management, and 1,497 of the 1,824 that progressed were closed.
In this stage, 776 were reached by agreement, 224 discontinued, 240 were found in favour of financial firms, and 34 in favour of the complainant.
The cases which remained unresolved at that stage then reached the Decision stage, which had 159 complaints, which saw 87% of outcomes ruled in favour of the financial firm and 13% in favour of the complainant.
Account administration accounted for 55.5% of complaints, while group life insurance was 29.6%.
Death benefits distribution (12.6%) and pensions (1.4%) were the other major complaint groups, with all other complaints totalling 1%.
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.
In a new review of the country’s largest fund, a research house says it’s well placed to deliver attractive returns despite challenges.
Chant West analysis suggests super could be well placed to deliver a double-digit result by the end of the calendar year.
Specific valuation decisions made by the $88 billion fund at the beginning of the pandemic were “not adequate for the deteriorating market conditions”, according to the prudential regulator.