WSSA calls for 11th default super fund option


The Workplace Super Specialist Australia (WSSA) has called for an eleventh default superannuation option be added to the recommended default fund list, telling its national conference that existing employer funds should be included.
The suggestion came in response to the recent Productivity Commission’s (PC’s) report that recommended that the Employee Assisted Model go ahead.
“We propose that the employer fund becomes the default if the employee doesn’t choose, because employer funds are not just off-the-rack funds. A lot of these funds have highly negotiated fees, special insurance arrangements and specialised education facilities,” WSSA chief executive, Douglas Latto, said.
Latto said that advantages to putting employer funds on the recommended list were that the employee would not lose benefits negotiated with the fund by workplace specialist advisers, the employer would remain an employer of choice by providing something extra to employees, and that all funds would be encouraged to innovate in order to remain in the top ten.
He also said that it would enable good funds outside of the top ten to survive, which would struggle to do so under the current proposal for ten default funds.
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