Funds should self-regulate on governance, says Lally
Superannuation funds need to address the manner in which they are governed or risk government intervention on the issue, according to outgoing Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) chairman Tony Lally.
Lally, the former chief executive of Sunsuper, told the ASFA national conference in Perth that self-regulation by funds on governance was preferable to Government intervention.
“It is important to arrive at a system of self-regulation if we are not to risk having it imposed by Government,” he said.
However he said that where fund trustee directors were concerned it was important to have those with a deep understanding of the members working alongside those who had a deep understanding of the investment, regulatory and business environment.
Lally said superannuation funds also needed to look to the next big challenge for the industry - the delivery of effective retirement incomes in the context of the massive flow of assets into the post-retirement phase over the next 20 years.
He said that addressing retirement incomes adequacy represented a critical issue for both Government and the regulators.
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