Mainstream media over-reactions causing damage

26 November 2015
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

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.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

10 months 1 week ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

10 months 2 weeks ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

10 months 2 weeks ago

The profit-to-member super funds are officially operating as a merged entity, set to serve over half a million members. ...

21 hours 59 minutes ago

Super Review announced 21 winners at the annual Super Fund of the Year Awards, including the recipient of the prestigious Fund of the Year Award....

1 day 11 hours ago

APRA data shows the CFMEU accounted for 28 per cent of super fund industrial contributions, with the shadow treasurer calling for a prompt investigation into the payments...

2 days 16 hours ago