Australian Superannuation - Articles & White Papers
The Australian Superannuation research section features over 200 articles and white papers which discuss Australian superannuation issues, covering both DB and DC pensions. The most read Australian Super research covers such topics as long-term investing, superannuation governance, retirement readiness and the trends shaping Australia's superannuation industry. Other Super research, white papers, reports and surveys examine New Zealand...
superannuation, inflation protection, independent directors, centralised portfolio management and other aspects of the current Australian superannuation landscape. Papers which look at asset allocation amongst Australian superannuation funds, as well as comparing Aussie Super Funds to those in other regions of the world, are popular. Australian superannuation funds have been pioneers in infrastructure investing, and a case study on this topic has been particularly popular with pensions professionals from Super Funds.
The first part of the paper presents an overview of public pensions in developing countries. It illustrates the impact of ageing on sustainability and the adequacy of pay-as-you-go plans, along with some suggestions for the future of state pensions. In the second part, the paper focuses on private pension systems in the…
The report offers insights and practical examples into how institutional asset owners are integrating real-world outcomes into their portfolios and investment strategies, including investor and regulatory examples from Prudential Financial, CalSTRS, the Church Commissioners for England, the European Commission, Zurich…
How should funds incorporate the Your Future, Your Super performance test into their portfolio construction process? In this article, Senior Investment Consultant Jonathan Grigg discusses the need for superannuation funds to have a very strong governance framework and clear beliefs on the weight they give the YFYS test, to ‘…
This paper reviews the historical origins, mandates, and structures of pension funds to tease out which of these characteristics enable and which impede the inclusion of ESG at pensions funds. A variety of strategies are linked to these markers to understand which outcomes are pursued, and how pension funds are uniquely…
Preliminary data for 2020 show that pension funds held over $35 trillion of assets worldwide at end-2020, exceeding 2019 levels despite the headwinds due to COVID-19 (Table 1). Pension fund assets grew by nearly 9% in the OECD area – although less than the double-digit growth rate in 2019 – to reach $4.2 trillion at end2020…
In the first of a series of articles on the impact of the landmark Your Future, Your Super legislation, Nick Callil from WTW analyses the impact of the annual performance test on superannuation funds.
There is a lot of volatility in a normal asset allocation in short time frames.This has occurred in a number of cases during the last couple of decades. To reduce this volatility, pension clients may wish to adopt a cash-flow-driven investment (CDI) approach.
The superannuation sector continues to grow with megafunds proliferating. This report covers, mergers, risk, tax, insurance in super, and many other topics from KPMG.
Now in its seventh year, this survey includes remuneration for non-profit licensed super funds as well as the country’s largest government funds and the Future Fund, but does not include bank-owned or other for-profit super funds. The survey is based on publicly available data for the financial year to the end of June 2020…
This research paper analyses how the early release of superannuation for housing deposits would impact house prices and housing affordability. It also considers how superannuation can contribute to an increased supply of residential property through institutional investment more typical overseas. Finally, it assesses whether…
ASFA is a non-profit, non-political national organisation whose mission is to continuously improve the superannuation system, so all Australians can enjoy a comfortable and dignified retirement. A recent Retirement Income Review Report stated that retirees tend to consume only the income derived from assets and not the…
The 2021 Global Survey of Accounting Assumptions for Defined Benefit Plans is the 32nd annual Willis Towers Watson survey of assumptions selected by major corporations for their defined benefit (DB) plans around the world.
How likely are funds to fail the new 'Your Future Your Super' annual performance test? In this, the second of a series of articles on the implications of the landmark YFYS legislation, Senior Investment Consultant Tim Unger looks at the mechanisms funds can use to assess the risk of future underperformance.
In this guide, "Employers: what you need to know about Your Future Your Super and ‘stapling’" WTW explains how stapling is currently designed to work, and show you what may be required for your onboarding processes. They also look at the role a company’s default fund will continue to play in an employee benefits program.
APRA publishes statistics on the superannuation industry on a quarterly basis. The industry performance statistics contains aggregate summaries of financial performance and position, asset allocation and key performance ratios. Statistics relating to corporate, industry, public sector and retail funds performance are also…
