ATO holds $730m in lost super
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is now the fourth largest holder of unclaimed superannuation, and holds one-third of all lost accounts.
The SuperRatings annual review of the eligible rollover fund (ERF) sector found that SuperTrace has the largest funds under management at $1.6 billion, followed by AMP ERF ($1.5 billion) and Australian ERF ($877 million).
Following the Government-mandated transfer of lost super accounts to the ATO in late 2010, the tax office is effectively the fourth largest ERF with $730 million in unclaimed superannuation.
In 2010, lost accounts below $200 where the member had not been contactable for five years were transferred to the ATO; and lost accounts over $200 were transferred to the ATO if the trustee felt there was no reasonable prospect of ever contacting the member.
As a result, the amount of unclaimed super at the ATO increased from $393 million as at 30 June 2010 to $730 million as at 30 June 2011.
ERF member accounts have dropped by 22.6 per cent to 4.75 million - although total ERF assets have only fallen by 1 per cent to $5.3 billion.
When the auto-consolidation of lost accounts begins in January 2014 under the SuperStream regime, ERFs could see half of their membership base disappear overnight, according to SuperRatings.
"Yet what may be a threat to [ERF] funds is a positive for Australians with lost super," said SuperRatings.
"However, there still remains approximately 2.5 accounts for each working Australian, although this ratio is expected to decrease over the next two years," the report said.
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