Stronger Super flawed by absence of financial planner representation

The Government's Stronger Super policy package would have been better targeted if the Cooper Review panel had actually included a financial planning representative, according to the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA).

AFA chairman, Brad Fox said the process which had given rise to Stronger Super and MySuper had been flawed from the start because the Cooper Review panel had not included a representative from an adviser association.

"Advisers meet with ordinary people to discuss their financial future every day of the working week and as such have a more intimate understanding of their superannuation needs than the Government or any other segment of the industry," he said.

"In failing to consult with adviser associations, the Government has ultimately failed all Australians," Fox said. "Good advice transforms people's lives, MySuper will not."

The AFA claimed that in broad terms the Stronger Super package had failed to address key areas scoped out by the Cooper Review, and that while the Cooper Review had resolved to look at ways to promote effective competition in the superannuation system, MySuper had only reinforced the current anti-competitive structure of the industry which unfairly favoured default workplace superannuation arrangements.

"Yet again we see one rule for one segment of the industry and another for all others," Fox said.

He said the fees and charges associated with intra-fund financial advice, as an example, remained hidden from consumers because the Government had not seen fit to force disclosure.