The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has identified "pockets" of superannuation trustees who are failing to comply with the regulator's tougher transparency requirements evolving out of the Stronger Super changes.
In a survey analysis of compliance with the changes released this week, ASIC pointed to an industry which had broadly headed in the right direction, but which was still struggling to uniformly fall in line.
ASIC commissioner, Greg Tanzer said the survey had indicated that superannuation trustees generally seemed to have understood what was intended with the transparency reforms and had made a good effort to comply.
However, he noted there "were pockets of non-compliant trustees who appear to have struggled with the new requirements".
In some instances we could not find any websites for funds', Mr Tanzer said.
Among some of the shortcomings identified in the ASIC survey were that some funds were not disclosing the length of time trustee directors and senior managers were serving on boards, executive remuneration, or the payment of executive remuneration to other organisations.
The survey also found inconsistencies with respect to how funds were reporting how directors had voted on listed share issues.
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.