The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued guidance about how superannuation funds can use retirement estimates and calculators.
These were exempt from certain regulatory requirements related to providing personal financial advice under class order relief in the Corporations Act 2001.
The latest guidance from ASIC would give greater clarity to super fund trustees on how they could use them within their retirement strategies under the Retirement Income Covenant, which came into force on 1 July.
ASIC had granted a six-month transition period during which providers of superannuation forecasts could rely either on the existing relief or the new relief with the new relief to kick in from 1 January, 2023.
ASIC Commissioner, Danielle Press, said: “‘The updated relief will also provide greater flexibility in how trustees can give retirement estimates to their members, including through interactive tools. It introduces a single framework for setting economic and financial assumptions across both retirement estimates and superannuation calculators.
“We expect trustees that choose to provide these tools to do so in a way that fosters informed decision making by members, without promoting specific financial products.”
