Choice takes first IFSA plunge

The Investment and Financial Services Association’s (IFSA) annual conference in Brisbane this month will represent one of the earliest opportunities to determine just how much churn has been generated by the new choice of superannuation fund environment.

Some of the earliest sessions of the Definition 2005 Conference will look at the new choice of superannuation fund, with both regulators and finance industry executives giving their views on what has been happening since the implementation of the new regime on July 1.

Moving beyond the early sessions, the conference will look at a variety of issues including unit pricing, the future of platforms and investor psychology.

A good deal of delegate interest is also expected to centre on a session to be addressed by a senior bureaucrat within the Treasury, Matthew Flavell, who is expected to outline the Government’s approach to the implementation of the Future Fund announced in the May Budget.

The regulator’s view of both choice and the new trustee licensing regime are expected to be discussed by the deputy chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Ross Jones, and the deputy chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Jeremy Cooper, while the key question of fund comparability will be dealt with by the director of Chant West Financial Services, Warren Chant.

Chant is expected to provide a detailed explanation of the work his company has already done for IFSA with respect to comparing superannuation funds, particularly the level of services provided by various entities.

At the same time, managing director of State Street Global Advisors Robert Goodlad is scheduled to discuss the future of wholesale managed funds in the post choice environment.

The success or otherwise of the implementation of choice will be discussed by a panel made up of key executives from both industry and superannuation funds in the form of the director, product manufacturing with AMP, Craig Meller, and the chief executive of Australia’s largest industry fund, REST, Neil Cochrane.

With recent surveys conducted by both Super Review and other organisations suggesting that superannuation industry executives believe the Government needs to do more to reduce the taxation regime applying to superannuation, a session to be addressed by a director of leading consultancy Access Economics is expected to prove popular.

Richardson’s address is titled The savings reflex; responses to lower super tax, and is expected to examine the impact of the Government’s decision to remove the superannuation surcharge, and whether more needs to be done to improve superannuation savings.

The opening speaker at the conference is the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Mick Keelty, who will address the conference on The commercial realities of 21st century security, while the second day of the conference will be opened by the chief executives of Vanguard Australia and ING Investment Management Asia Pacific, Jeremy Duffield and Chris Ryan, who will discuss the future of global funds management.