Strategy

While the focus of the advice industry groups has very much been around making the day to day lives of those in the industry easier, the likes of the AFCA, Vanguard and several law firms have offered insight into the impact on the consumer.

2022 has marked just the fifth financial year of negative returns since the SG became compulsory in 1992. This should not be a surprising result.

News that the rollout of the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) test beyond My Super products would be paused has been met with positive and negative commentary from the investment industry.

During a recent presentation of Invesco Global Consulting’s program, Priceless, I asked a room full of advisers how many of them had changed the way they do their annual client review meetings in the last 5 years (COVID19 changes aside). 

Once a stalking horse for a small cabal of noisy backbenchers, “Home First, Super Second” has found its way into the Coalition’s policy arsenal ahead of an unpredictable election.

The VIX Volatility Index or Fear Index hit a 52-week high of 38.94 last week after $65bn was wiped off the Australian share market.

A bounce in share markets in March supported superannuation fund performance in the first quarter of 2022. However, with inflation concerns mounting, global share markets remain volatile, including the hard-hit US share market, which is likely to dent superannuation returns for the current financial year. 

In 2021 the “Your Future Your Super” (YFYS) performance test was introduced to gauge whether default super funds, which collected billions in guaranteed contributions, were up-to-scratch in terms of their investment performance. Speaking at the SMSF Association’s National Conference 2022, Philip La Greca, executive manager of SMSF Technical & Strategic Solutions at Super Concepts, who…

Among the Federal Budget proposals that received the least fanfare was the extension of the ‘temporary’ relief on the minimum drawdowns for account-based pensions. Whilst the media attention on the legislative change immediately highlights the fact that it benefits the wealth more than the rest, it affords an entire generation of Australians greater flexibility. Few…

Year after year of growing compliance requirements placed on the financial advice sector likely came to a crescendo with the Financial Services Royal Commission. The introduction of FASEA, additional education requirements and Code of Ethics whilst on their own were a positive step towards professionalisation. However, they added another burden to an industry that most…

While the government’s Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) reform package, which took effect last July, has been widely derided by the industry, it is the first step in a move to requiring the industry to improve its efficiency, transparency and accountability. One of the unexpected consequences of the YFYS changes is the fact that it…

Industry fund-owned ‘The New Daily’ is once again in political hot water after a controversial deal with AustralianSuper to auto-subscribe 800,000 of the fund’s members to the publication. ‘The New Daily’ has become a bee in the bonnet for a number of Liberal backbenchers, most notably NSW Senator Andrew Bragg, who has characterised the publication…