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John Brogden
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Superannuation executives and regulators have urged the industry to increase its level of disclosure and governance, with the Financial Services Council (FSC) releasing a guide to environmental, social and governance policy (ESG) reporting at their annual conference.
The FSC ESG guide is an attempt to outline essential information and data that investors need to price and manage ESG risks. It was developed together with the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), in consultation with the wider industry.Thirty companies out of the ASX 200 list do not include ESG reporting for investors, while 76 companies only report basic ESG risks, ACSI chief executive Ann Byrne said.
There were too few companies reporting on ESG risk and too little information available for investors on the subject, FSC chief executive John Brogden said.
Knowing how much staff turnover there is at a company was an important issue for potential investors as company earnings and loss figures, Brogden said.
In an unrelated address to the conference, Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft urged delegates at the conference to increase their level of disclosure to super fund members of portfolio asset allocations.
Investors are the ones with “skin in the game” so it was only logical that they should be able to see where their money was invested, Medcraft said.
Vanguard Super has reported strong returns across most of its investment options, attributed to a “low-cost, index-based approach”.
The fund has achieved double-digit returns amid market volatility, reinforcing the value of long-term investment strategies for its members.
Australian super funds notched a third consecutive year of strong returns, with the median balanced option delivering an estimated 10.1 per cent over the 2024-25 financial year, but an economist has warned that the rally may be harder to sustain as key risks gather pace.
AustralianSuper has reported a 9.52 per cent return for its Balanced super option for the 2024–25 financial year, as markets delivered another year of strong performance despite the complex investing environment.