The validity of current Age Pension taper rates were more problematic than the state of the superannuation system when it came to looking at retirement incomes in Australia, according to Australian Super chief executive, Ian Silk.
Speaking on a panel during the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) national conference in Melbourne, Silk said that he believed there needed to be more focus on the inter-relationship between the Age Pension and Superannuation.
He said he believed the Government’s retirement income review was a really good idea in circumstances where Australia had not really had a holistic examination of the retirement incomes regime.
However, Silk said it needed to thoroughly examine the inter-relationship between superannuation and the Age Pension.
“And that is where the assets and income test comes into play and the question of taper rates,” he said.
Silk said that, in his view and despite the critics, it was not the superannuation system that was at fault, it was the taper rate.
Mercer partner and ASFA board member, Jo-Anne Bloch agreed with Silk and said that more attention needed to be turned to the decumulation phase.
Super funds had a “tremendous month” in November, according to new data.
Australia faces a decade of deficits, with the sum of deficits over the next four years expected to overshoot forecasts by $21.8 billion.
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.