Industry funds stand to be amongst those most affected by auto-consolidation, according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees expert David Haynes.
Addressing the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds in Brisbane, Haynes acknowledged that given the growth in group life premiums in the industry funds segment, it was likely they would be most affected.
This was in circumstances where industry funds were the fastest growing segment with respect to life premiums.
Haynes said consolidation in the number of super accounts was imperative in circumstances where there were 28 million super accounts in Australia for just 11 million workers.
He said the challenge had been to find ways of reducing the number of accounts to a reasonable level while at the same time addressing account proliferation.
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.