Industry funds questioned on not-for-profit claim
Industry superannuation funds may call themselves “not-for-profit” but they are not charities, according to the former chief executive of Equip Super and now chief executive of the Myer Family Company, Danielle Press.
Speaking on a panel session during the Financial Services Council (FSC) Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, Press said charities were in the business of being not profit, and industry funds needed to come to terms with that.
Press’ comments came as Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) deputy chairperson, Helen Rowell said she believed superannuation fund trustees needed to accept that they were running substantial businesses.
She said that on that basis they needed to have appropriate strategic plans in place.
Rowell and other members of the panel discussed why there had not been faster consolidation within the superannuation funds space, and the APRA deputy chairperson suggested that funds needed to be looking at their member value proposition.
“I don’t doubt that most trustees believe they genuinely have the best interests of members at heart, but I question how they are making that judgement,” she said.
Rowell said APRA wanted to see the industry shift to a more objective assessment of the value they were delivering to members, adding that trustees needed to be more forward thinking if they wanted to avoid change being enforced by regulation.
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