Staff at Australia's superannuation funds believe the single biggest barrier to boosting their salaries is the lack of opportunities in the sector.
Data from the Super Review Salary Survey found that 28 per cent of super fund staff members said they lacked opportunities to grow their salary, with 15 per cent saying poor organisational management was to blame, and 10 per cent pointed the finger at clients undervaluing their services.
While one super fund chief executive reported that a "dominant and ignorant chairman" was preventing him from reaching the salary he believed he should be paid.
The survey found that a fifth of respondents reported earning less than $90,000 a year, while 16 per cent said they took home more than $190,000 per annum — with one per cent saying their income was in excess of $300,000.
When asked how much they believed their salary should be for their current role, 20 per cent said they deserved to be paid over $190,000, with four per cent believing a salary of more than $300,000 would be fair remuneration.
While super staff were largely keen to see their salaries rise, almost two thirds of respondents said they felt valued by their employer, while just 14 per cent said they were not. The survey also revealed that just 10 per cent of super fund employees said they were actively looking for a new job, with more than a third of respondents reporting they were not even open to offers of alternative employment.
The Federal Court has ordered AustralianSuper to pay $27 million for failures to address multiple member accounts.
The country’s fourth-largest fund is targeting the “missing middle” of members with a new digital advice service in partnership with Ignition Advice.
The prudential regulator confirmed it is considering BUSSQ’s Federal Court appeal.
The Albanese government has put forward a bold proposal to tackle the challenges of Australia’s swelling retirement pool, in an effort to allow superannuation funds to play a more active role in shaping members’ retirement outcomes.