Death and total and permanent disablement (TPD) insurance should remain a fundamental part of superannuation fund offerings, according to the Pillar Administration/Super Review 2016 State of the Super Industry Survey.
While the Productivity Commission is reviewing the relevance of insurance offerings within superannuation, the survey has revealed clear-cut support for the role of life/risk within superannuation.
The survey, conducted during the 2016 Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) conference, revealed almost total support for insurance offerings within superannuation as they currently stand.
Asked how important they believed death and TPD cover was in superannuation funds, 52.1 per cent of respondents described it as vital, while a further 38.2 per cent described it was very important and 9.5 per cent described it as useful.
Not one respondent suggested that it was unimportant.
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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.