Chant West has called on the Productivity Commission to better respond to what it sees as the two key issues with the superannuation industry uncovered by its investigation – those of there being too many people with unintended multiple accounts or defaulting into underperforming funds.
The research house didn’t believe that the proposed ‘top ten’ list of default funds was the best solution however, and said that commentary around the report had overlooked the significance of this change.
“Yes, we need a solution for the default fund when someone starts their first job, which is what the ‘best in show’ tries to deal with, but let’s agree to stop making new accounts by default and then work towards a solution for that first job,” Chant West’s head of research, Ian Fryer, said.
“Indeed … we should rather focus on getting rid of poor-performing and sub-scale funds and ending up with say 30 or 40 really good funds.”
Fryer said that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA’s) proposed elevated outcomes test would push the industry down that path, calling on the Government to support this “as a matter of priority”.
Super trustees need to be prepared for the potential that the AI rise could cause billions of assets to shift in superannuation, according to an academic from the University of Technology Sydney.
AMP’s superannuation business has returned to outflows in the third quarter of 2025 after reporting its first positive cash flow since 2017 last quarter.
The major changes to the proposed $3 million super tax legislation have been welcomed across the superannuation industry.
In holding the cash rate steady in September, the RBA has judged that policy remains restrictive even as housing and credit growth gather pace.