Super funds urged to fix up internal audit

Superannuation funds must form some sort of alignment between their different committees on how their internal audit will function, according to James Oliver, director of financial services assurance and advisory at Deloitte.

"Within your organisations, you have the board committee, the board, executive management, the board management group, and you have the internal auditors themselves, and each of those parties may have slightly different view of internal audit," Oliver said at a Melbourne superannuation breakfast.

The different parties involved in internal audit needed to have full and frank discussions to come to that alignment, he said.

Super funds must reach a consensus on their purpose and remit before they start up their internal audit function, according to Oliver.

Things will go wrong if they don't have that discussion up front, Oliver said.

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If super funds have internal audit functions already then they need to work now to create that alignment between the different parties, Oliver warned.

Super funds could construct a charter towards that purpose, he suggested.

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority introduced the internal audit requirement because the industry is getting bigger and more complex, with funds offering non-super products, in-sourcing complex investment management and building digital and social media strategies, Oliver said.