ING chief concerned at leverage in super

superannuation-funds/chief-executive-officer/gearing/chief-executive/money-management/government/

15 April 2008
| By Mike Taylor |

The outgoing chief executive of ING Australia, Paul Bedbrook, has expressed concern at the Government’s decision to allow gearing within superannuation funds.

Bedbrook, who finishes up in his chief executive officer role at the end of the month, told Money Management he believes allowing gearing within superannuation to be the thin end of the wedge and that superannuation should be purely for retirement.

He said that superannuation had, up until now, represented a huge pool of ungeared money that acted as a buffer to the system.

Bedbrook said this buffering effect was important in the context of incidents such as Opes Prime.

“And I am in the old school in thinking that there should not be any gearing in super,” he said. “I think that is the thin edge of the wedge … superannuation should be purely for retirement or the event of hardship.”

Bedbrook said that the defined contribution system was excellent with respect to superannuation, but it had not been tested with respect to whether it delivered a viable retirement.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months 2 weeks ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months 2 weeks ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

4 months 3 weeks ago

ASIC has suspended the Australian Financial Services Licence of a Melbourne-based financial advice firm....

5 days 4 hours ago

The corporate regulator has issued infringement notices to three AFSLs whose financial advisers provided personal advice to a retail client while unregistered....

1 week 3 days ago

ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test....

2 weeks 1 day ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND