Most superannuation fund executives and trustees do not believe their members have an adequate understanding of the insurance they receive within superannuation.
That is the bottom line of a survey conducted by Super Review during last month’s Conference of Major Superannuation Funds in Brisbane where more than 80 per cent of the mostly industry fund trustee and executive respondents pointed to a lack of member understanding of insurance.
Asked whether they believed superannuation fund members had an adequate understanding of the insurance they received within superannuation 81.4 per cent of respondents said “no” with just 14.8 per cent believing members were adequately informed.
The importance of the survey finding is that it comes in the wake of the recommendations of the Insurance inside Superannuation Working Group (ISWG) and amid a general acknowledgement that members need to be better informed about their insurance and, particularly, their ability to opt-out.
The survey, sponsored by EISS Super, also revealed that most respondents believed the insurance within superannuation code of conduct would serve to better protect members.
Asked whether they believed fund members would be better protected by the new insurance within superannuation code of conduct, 55.5 per cent of respondents answered yes, with 37 per cent answering no.
AMP’s strong 2024–25 returns were anything but a fluke – they were the product of a carefully recalibrated investment strategy that began several years ago, when the fund first became truly cognisant of its shortcomings.
ASIC is “considering what options” it has to hold super trustees to account for including the failed schemes on their platforms, according to its deputy chair.
Vanguard Super has reported strong returns across most of its investment options, attributed to a “low-cost, index-based approach”.
The fund has achieved double-digit returns amid market volatility, reinforcing the value of long-term investment strategies for its members.