Opposition to push fee disclosure further

TheFederal Opposition is signalling its intention to move even further than the Government in terms of life-time fee disclosure with respect to superannuation.

The Opposition Spokesman on Financial Services, Senator Stephen Conroy, says given the impact that fees can have on a person’s final retirement income, Labor believes it is important to disclose the cost of fees over time.

Conroy used an address to theInvestment and Financial Services Association(IFSA) to highlight the failure of both IFSA and theAssociation of Superannuation Funds of Australia(ASFA) to reach agreement on a single fee model as requested by the Federal Government.

He says the failure of both associations to reach an agreement will now result in the Federal Treasury imposing a model, which is scheduled for release over the next few months.

“In our view, the single fee model should provide consumers with a single fee to allow them to compare different products and in addition, should show consumers the cost of fees over time,” Conroy says.

“Our objective is to empower consumers to make informed investment decisions.”

He says for consumers to be empowered they have to be given the information required to make fully informed decisions.

“In our view, the information needed includes the cost of fees over time,” Conroy says.