The mainstream media and its disproportionate coverage of normal movements in investment markets is serving to undermine confidence in the financial services and superannuation industry, according to Frontier Advisors Australia director of consulting, Fiona Trafford-Walker.
Addressing the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA) annual conference in Brisbane, Trafford-Walker said the mainstream media drove her mad by treating market movements in a sensationalist manner.
"Markets go up and markets go down, and that is normal," she said.
Trafford-Walker pointed to the degree to which trust had been lost in the financial services industry since the global financial crisis and suggested that continuing media coverage had fed into that negativity and to a tendency towards short-termism.
She said the consequent short-termism then fed into the attitudes of super fund trustees.
"And if the trustees have short-term mind sets so will the managers they seek to use," Trafford-Walked said.
The super fund announced that Gregory has been appointed to its executive leadership team, taking on the fresh role of chief advice officer.
The deputy governor has warned that, as super funds’ overseas assets grow and liquidity risks rise, they will need to expand their FX hedge books to manage currency exposure effectively.
Super funds have built on early financial year momentum, as growth funds deliver strong results driven by equities and resilient bonds.
The super fund has announced that Mark Rider will step down from his position of chief investment officer (CIO) after deciding to “semi-retire” from full-time work.