Govt faces defeat on YFYS bill

YFYS ALP Jane Hume APRA

26 May 2021
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

The Federal Government is facing having to accept fundamental changes to its Your Future, Your Super legislation particularly around giving the Minister the power effectively veto investment decisions made by superannuation funds. 

Members of the cross-bench in the Senate late yesterday appeared prepared to support the Australian Labor Party in pursuing key amendments to the legislation in circumstances where the Federal Opposition had said its intent was not to block the bill but to seek to pursue amendments which would remove some of its worst elements. 

The position of the cross-bench emerged at the same time as the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, Senator Jane Hume, sought to point to the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) superannuation data as being supportive of the Government’s position. 

However, while that data showed a strong recovery in superannuation returns after the impacts of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020 and the effects of the Government’s Early Release Superannuation (ERS) initiative, it also confirmed just how conservatively most superannuation funds had pitched their investment allocations. 

While there had been heavy criticism of industry funds allocations towards unlisted investments, the APRA data for the March quarter showed that such investments represented a very minor per centage and that most money was being directed to equities, fixed interest and cash. 

The APRA analysis showed that as at the end of the March 2021 quarter, 54% of the $2.0 trillion investments were invested in equities, with 27% in international listed equities, 23% in Australian listed equities and 4% in unlisted equities.  

On top of that it showed that fixed income and cash investments accounted for 29% of investments, with 19% in fixed income and 10 per cent in cash, while property and infrastructure accounted for 14% of investments and other assets, including hedge funds and commodities, accounted for just 3%. 

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

Interesting. Would be good to know the details of the StrategyOne deal....

4 days 3 hours ago

It’s astonishing to see the FAAA now pushing for more advisers by courting "career changers" and international recruits,...

3 weeks 2 days ago

increased professionalism within the industry - shouldn't that say, FAR register almost halving in the last 24 months he...

4 weeks 1 day ago

Insignia Financial has made four appointments, including three who have joined from TAL, to lead strategy and innovation in its retirement solutions for the MLC brand....

2 weeks 4 days ago

A former Brisbane financial adviser has been charged with 26 counts of dishonest conduct regarding a failure to disclose he would receive substantial commission payments ...

3 days 1 hour ago

Pinnacle Investment Management has announced it will acquire strategic interests in two international fund managers for $142 million....

2 days 4 hours ago