Industry funds have been warned against resting on their laurels just because they emerged largely unscathed from the Royal Commission.
The chief executive of Australian Super, Ian Silk told the opening plenary of the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) on the Gold Coast that there was no room for “triumphalism” just because not profit to member funds had been referred to the regulators by the Royal Commissioner, Kenneth Hayne.
“The fact that industry funds emerged largely uncriticised is no cause for triumphalism,” he said. “The fact that not found to have done anything significantly wrong should be the minimum standard,” he said.
“There is no place for complacency or hubris. The retail sector may regroup albeit that their business model makes that a challenge,” Silk said.
The AustralianSuper chief executive also asked profit to member superannuation funds to question whether they were doing the best for their members in terms of services and returns to members.
“Are we capable of providing the new services and products, including retirement products that members will need,” he asked.
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.