CSSA rejects double standards of opt-in

13 September 2011
| By Chris Kennedy |

Requiring retail fund members to opt-in to personal financial advice every two years while also mandating a collective fee to be paid by superannuation fund members for personal advice amounts to a double standard, according to the Corporate Super Specialist Alliance (CSSA).

CSSA president Douglas Latto said the introduction of a compulsory intra-fund advice fee into both MySuper and other corporate super funds, while also requiring other advice clients to have to opt in every two years, would be a patent demonstration of double standards.

"Personal financial advice is exactly that, highly personal. Why should all members of a super fund subsidise the personal financial plans of a few?" he said.

A current class order relief allowed super funds to advise on simple matters such as contributions and insurance within super, but industry funds want to expand that under scaled advice provisions to include things like transition to retirement and Centrelink advice, which completely flies in the face of the opt-in argument, Latto said.

A collective fee would not be tailored to the needs of individual employers and employees but would be determined by fund trustees at a standard level for all members, Latto said.

"The Government, in its paternalistic fashion, has again decided what is good for you: in their view, one size fits all," he said.

Latto said those seeking personal advice should pay for that advice individually.

"It is hard to see a better world for super fund members in any proposal that has them subsidising the personal financial plans of others and which legitimises the Government's double standards and conflicted principles," he said.

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