Govt to focus on super fund choice
Assistant Treasurer, Kelly O'Dwyer, has reiterated the Government's 2016 plans to allow Australians to have choice around their superannuation fund, and to increase governance standards.
Speaking in Hobart on Monday, O'Dwyer said around 25 per cent of people who are covered by an enterprise agreement have no choice in where their money goes.
"Enterprise bargaining agreements and workplace determinations dictate to individuals where their money goes in superannuation," she said.
"It means they are paying two lots of fees, they're paying in the case of those who have got two funds for instance, it means they might be paying two insurance premiums as well, rather than being able to bundle that together and put it into one fund."
O'Dwyer also said the Government had accepted financial system inquiry recommendations to increase governance standards, to have more independence on boards and to have an independent chairman on those super fund boards.
"We understand as well that there were recommendations made before the Government came in under the previous government with Jeremy Cooper recommending that there needed to be one-third independent directors on these boards," O'Dwyer said.
The Assistant Treasurer noted while changes to tax concessions were in the works the Government was not in a position to talk about it.
"It is really shocking to me to think that somebody on an average income, this year, will potentially be in the second highest tax bracket because of bracket creep," she said.
"…And so, we are looking at balancing all of those issues when we consider getting the tax mix right. We also want to make sure our businesses are competitive."
Recommended for you
The second tranche of DBFO reforms has received strong support from superannuation funds and insurers, with a new class of advisers aimed to support Australians with their retirement planning.
The financial services technology firm has officially launched its digital advice and education solution for superannuation funds and other industry players.
The ETF provider has flagged a number of developments as it formally enters the superannuation space through a major acquisition.
While all MySuper products successfully passed the latest performance test, trustee-directed products encountered difficulties.
