Magnitude of inflows revealed

Simon Solomon

Actuarial and research firm Plan for Life has confirmed the dramatic impact of the Government’s ‘simpler super’ legislation on financial services inflows, with its managing director Simon Solomon describing it as “unprecedented”.

Solomon said not only superannuation but also allocated pensions, unit trusts, managed funds and cash trusts were the recipients of a flood of funds, with $57 billion flowing into longer-term products and over $74 billion into cash trusts.

He said this result represented a major opportunity for managers in both the superannuation and non-superannuation sectors.

Drilling down on the inflows data, Plan for Life said corporate super had taken in $7.2 billion in new monies during the June quarter, while personal superannuation had raked in a massive $21.68 billion, with the major winners being Colonial First State, BT/Westpac, MLC, Macquarie and AMP.

It said super bonds had also performed strongly, reaching $2.2 billion during the quarter, while the retirement income stream market had recorded an unexpected surge to $5.8 billion, with the winners emerging as Macquarie, Colonial First State, AMP and BT/Westpac.

Where unit trusts were concerned, Plan for Life said this was the most surprising and unexpected sector of the retail market to benefit receiving $9.5 billion, while cash trusts received $57 billion, with the major beneficiaries being Macquarie, ING and MLC/NAB.