The Australian Superannuation section of the site provides investors with the latest research and white papers of interest to Australian investors. This covers both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) styled schemes. The thought leadership below coverstopics including long-term investing, superannuation governance, retirement strategies, asset allocation and portfolio management for Australian superannuation schemes.
Australian superannuation funds, or ‘Supers’, are Australian pensions split into an industry super funds and retail super funds. Industry supers are ‘profit to member’ entities, or not-for-profit funds, which means profits do not go to shareholders but to members. Most such funds are open to the public, and some are linked to specific industries or business sectors...
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Retail supers are generally operated and managed by financial institutions or wealth management firms. Both types are considered trusts and are therefore not allowed to make a profit.
The Australian superannuation pensions industry has recently been subject to sweeping regulatory change, some of which is still unfolding. This includes the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms, the introduction of the MySuper option intended to simplify the invested product range, and the requirements of SuperStream, which regulates the way businesses pay contributions to supers.
Due to increasing globalisation, more and more international regulations – such as FATCA and rules to regulate the portability of pensions across countries – apply to the Australian industry.
Superannuation pension assets totalled $3.1 trillion at the end of the March 2021 quarter. Over the 12 months from March 2020 there was a 3.1 per cent increase in total superannuation assets.
