How super fund employees switched investments amid the volatility
It is now acknowledged that switching investments within superannuation funds cost some members billions because of extreme market volatility in March, but UniSuper has revealed that one of its senior executives switched more than $400,000 while 93 employees switched a total of nearly $14 million.
Answering questions on notice from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, UniSuper revealed that its funds under management (FUM) peaked at $89.9 billion on 20 February and reached its low point of $72.5 billion on 23 March.
In that period, it said that 16,658 members had one or more switch requests processed during this period to a total value of $4,401,511,717 but, more importantly, among those doing the switching were a senior executive and the 93 employees.
“One member, who is also an executive of the fund, had one or more switch requests processed during this period to a total value of $445,368,” it said. “93 members, who are also employees of the fund, had one or more switch requests processed during this period to a total value of $13,644,974.”
UniSuper reinforced with the Parliamentary Committee that it had strict policies in place restricting the manner in which employees could undertake personal share trading or investment switching, particularly investment personnel.
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