Industry funds welcome APRA choice scrutiny
Industry funds representative body, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has welcomed the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA’s) announcement that it will begin collecting data on choice superannuation products.
AIST chief executive, Eva Scheerlinck said the announcement represented an important step because choice superannuation products had been subject to less scrutiny to default MySuper products, and many products provided the banks and other ‘for profit’ providers had performed poorly.
“For too long choice super products have been subject to less scrutiny because of lack of data,” Scheerlinck said. “There are more than 40,000 choice super products available and the regulator has not been able to ensure they deliver good member outcomes because the regulator doesn’t have product-level data on their fees or performance.”
“Lesser scrutiny of choice products means members who leave the protection of the default super system have too often been left at sea, with no way of comparing the fees or performance of the choice product,” she said.
APRA deputy chair, Helen Rowell announced the move as part of a multi-year project to upgrade the breadth, depth and quality of its superannuation data collection.
She said the first phase of the project would address the most urgent gaps in APRA’s data collection, particular choice products and investment options while phase two would seek to increase the granularity of the entire collection.
Rowell said APRA intended to respond to the first phase of the consultation and finalise changes to its reporting standards by mid-next year.
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