The Conexus Institute welcomes the Government's latest YFYS performance test consultation - but see it as meaningful rather than transformative progress.

Like negotiating with terrorists, the federal government must think carefully before using the apparatus of state to compensate victims of the Shield and/or First Guardian collapses.

The country’s two largest superannuation funds are pushing the federal government to expand its performance test to cover retirement products.

Australia’s super system is confronting three intertwined investment challenges tied to the Your Future Your Super performance test.

A new report recommends a mandatory value of emissions reduction (VER) framework for the super industry, which would help embed a 'zero-carbon mindset' in every investment decision.

David Bell reflects on the UK retirement system after spending a couple of weeks in London catching up with many parts of the UK pensions sector.

Australian super funds talk a big game on climate related investments but a Conexus Institute study says just one per cent of assets are invested in climate related investments and two per cent in so-called responsible investing.

Australian super funds talk a big game on climate related investments but a Conexus Institute study says just one per cent of assets are invested in climate related investments and two per cent in so-called responsible investing.

By consolidating fragmented pension schemes into megafunds, Rachel Reeves hopes to channel billions into UK infrastructure, housing and energy transition projects. The strategy borrows heavily from Canadian and Australian models – but will it work in Britain?

The language around retirement finances and super can be overwhelming... and downright confusing.

Australia doesn’t have a range, or any number, for valuing the cost of carbon in our largest domestic pool of available capital to help achieve that ambition. This is a glaring anomaly that must be fixed.

Despite years of climate commitments, less than one per cent of super fund assets appear to be allocated to targeted, climate-related investment activities. This mismatch between rhetoric and reality is not sustainable — financially or environmentally.

Superannuation fund responses to the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change have been patchy to date, with funds facing lack of compulsion and limited incentives and experiencing meaningful constraints on how they invest.

Super funds are using an obscure rule to penalise low-income account holders. It could be costing low-income retirees thousands of dollars.

In this video interview we’re tackling one of the biggest challenges facing retirees – how to invest once you’ve stopped working and started drawing down on your savings.

A new war in the $4.1 trillion superannuation sector is heating up as fast-growing wealth platforms such as Netwealth and Hub24 grab a greater share of retirement assets from industry superannuation funds.

Many of the problems with the existing Your Future Your Super performance test arise from the tyranny imposed by the benchmark indices. Broadening the test to focus on total portfolio returns will address this issue and achieve the government’s intent, plus more.

The Retirement Reporting Framework has the potential to further drive the super industry forward on the path to implementing quality retirement income strategies (RIS) for their members.

Pension account minimums, one of the rotten rules in the Australian superannuation sector, may finally be facing a reckoning.

Three years after legislation was introduced to make superannuation funds’ retirement income obligations to members crystal clear, it still highly uncertain just how long it will take for the industry to achieve an “acceptable if not outstanding” response.

Labor is retreating from a plan to push superannuation funds to boost how quickly retirees draw down on their savings, walking back several principles it had secretly circulated to the industry’s biggest players.

Superannuation industry investment leaders have warned that herding mentality caused by the Your Future Your Super performance test is distracting funds from focusing on long-term returns and may be creating unintended risks to managing members’ money.

Major super funds are actively banning at least 50,000 less well-off Australians each year from accessing pensions by imposing an account minimum.

In this video interview we’re diving into one of the most important – yet often overlooked – parts of retirement planning: how to actually draw down your super and other savings.

Access to franking credits is generally thought to make investing in Australian stocks more attractive. Does it follow that that Australian companies paying franked dividends offer higher after-tax returns as a consequence?

All super fund members who meet a relevant condition of release will be allowed to roll over into a retirement income solution, including an account-based pension, irrespective of their account balance, if Treasury’s proposed best practice principles for retirement income solutions are adopted.

The proportion of big bank shares in Australian superannuation accounts has become so dangerously high that it should be capped to protect savers from any sharp fall in the housing market, a major investment bank says.

Regulatory assessment of super fund’s retirement income strategies (RIS) is a near certainty. It is also essential for super funds to self-assess their RIS through the lens of continual improvement.

Here’s a fun game to play in your last month of work. Log into your super fund and try to find the form to start your retirement income. Now guess what it’s called.

The country’s corporate regulator says major financial services firms including Macquarie, AMP and Colonial First State need to do more to ensure that retirement savers are protected from complex, high-risk schemes hosted on their superannuation platforms.

The country’s $4.2 trillion retirement savings sector must urgently prioritise efforts to boost service standards for retirees and older Australians or risk stranding millions with a poorer quality of life in retirement, warn industry experts.

Super funds have a strong commercial incentive to scale their advice provision to prevent them from switching to one of the retail platforms, which have experienced significant inflows as a result of members leaving industry funds.

Today marks the third anniversary of the Retirement Income Covenant (RIC) taking effect. Three years in and there remains much to be done.

David Bell and Geoff Warren reflect on the recent Fiduciary Investors Symposium held in the Blue Mountains.

Investing for income is a strategy that involves investing for income while planning not to access the capital.

The DBFO Phase 2 reforms establish a foundation for provision of financial advice to members who would otherwise miss out.

Identifies a number of things that influence our behavior as we make financial decisions about retirement.

Australia’s circa $4 trillion super industry and its members were hit by a large and co-ordinated cyberattack that compromised thousands of accounts.

AustralianSuper has kept its position as the fastest growing super fund by net asset growth.

Australia’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, grew by more than any of its nearest rivals during the past financial year.

The superannuation system at large is heading towards balance after years of commercial- and regulatory-driven consolidation.

Insignia Financial lost the most retirement savings to rival superannuation providers as customers moved to industry funds and into self-management.

ASIC has made clear funds will have to lift their game when it comes to service standards.

Retirement represents a “key commercial thematic” for both profit-to-member and retail funds over the next 10 years.

When it comes to driving competitive superannuation flows, advisers are the kingmakers and HUB24 and Netwealth are wearing the crown.

It has taken more than five years, but the for-profit funds are finally back in the game as the not for profits increasingly struggle to service members nearing or in retirement.

CareSuper will merge with a rival retirement savings fund to create an industry superannuation giant.

While much of the focus is on investment decisions, behavioural influences can have an even greater effect on consumer decisions around their retirement.

ASIC chair Joe Longo has launched a major broadside at leaders of the superannuation industry that should send shockwaves across the sector.

Concerns that shortcomings in operational infrastructure are hindering the industry from delivering high quality retirement income strategies.

If asked about ways to improve Australia's retirement income system, which two things would you change or initiate? What is a quick win and a longer term or structural reform?

New research investigates the systemic impacts of the large and growing superannuation industry in Australia highlighting two main concerns.

Recognises the need for independent, evidence-based and non-partisan research in superannuation and retirement policy.

The superannuation sector's operational infrastructure is cause for concern.

The Grattan Institute has proposed direct government involvement to improve retiree outcomes and deliver government a better return on the substantial taxation incentives provided to superannuation.

Super funds have special privileges in how they can include unlisted assets in their portfolios. No other savings vehicle in Australia has this benefit.

The $3 trillion superannuation industry is “struggling with legacy systems and processes” that are “unsuitable for large financial ­organisations”.

The growth of super has been a major boon for Australia on balance. However, no system is perfect, and big super gives rise to issues and risks to be considered or addressed.

Super’s biggest problem likely lies within funds themselves, with many using legacy operational infrastructure ill-suited to the needs of the major financial organisations they’ve become.

The Conexus Institute in Australia has a Retirement Explainer Series of short papers, each focused on a specific aspect of retirement income.

The reliability of super funds’ status as the so-called shadow banks in the Australian economy has been called into question.

Remarks focus on governance, an area that is fundamental to roles as Chairs and an area of heightened interest to APRA.

Further retirement policy is required because current policy settings don’t provide clear expectations and facilitate laggard funds.

In new research Conexus Institute said that while the RBA and IMF had valid concerns about the size of funds, those risks could be managed and were not as significant as they first appeared.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ recently announced review of the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) performance test will be the fourth in five years.

With an eye to “taking the stress out of retirement”, the Grattan Institute has proposed that government become a provider of annuities and a “free, high-quality guidance service”.

The Grattan Institute’s report makes six recommendations that could help Australians navigate the tricky financial transition from accumulation to decumulation.

The Retirement Income Review and The Conexus Institute have also said that the adequacy of a lower SG rate for the public would also hinge on the ability of funds to deliver quality retirement income solutions.

Concerns raised about applicability of the Your Future Your Super performance test to account-based pension products.

Panel discussion on challenges super funds face on retirement. Right now, the retirement phase of superannuation does not work as well for members as it could, and certainly not as well as the accumulation phase.