Former Federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry has joined with superannuation executives in calling for an approach by Government which encourages investment in infrastructure.
Addressing an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) "Investment Interchange" event in Wollongong last week, the now chairman of the SMART Infrastructure Facility Advisory Council, Henry said a national approach to infrastructure investment needed to be adopted.
At the same time, ASFA director of investments Gordon Noble said a pathway needed to be created to facilitate investment in infrastructure.
"One of the key challenges the investment community faces globally is its all-too-often passive culture," he said. "With super funds showing more interest than ever before in investing in infrastructure projects and governments increasingly willing to let the private sector step in, now is the time to start a dialogue about how this can be modeled in a way that delivers the best outcomes for fund members."
The former Financial Services Minister and Parliamentary ALP leadership aspirant, Bill Shorten, last week canvassed adjusting the tax regime to encourage superannuation fund investment in infrastructure.
The research house has offered a silver lining after super fund returns saw the end of a five-month streak last month.
A survey of almost 6,000 fund members has identified weakening retirement confidence, particularly among those under 55 years of age, signalling an opportunity for super funds to better engage with members on their retirement journey.
The funds have confirmed the signing of a successor fund transfer deed, moving closer to creating a new $29 billion entity.
A number of measures, including super on Paid Parental Leave, funding to recover unpaid super, and frameworks to encourage investment in the energy transition, have been welcomed by the superannuation industry.
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