Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority (APRA) CEO Graeme Thompson believes there are two reasons for his, and what he views as APRA’s, Most Influential nomination again this year.
“One is that we’ve been more active and more intense in our supervision of the superannuation sector… And the other, starting with our submission to the productivity commission in the middle of last year, is that we’ve put a number of items on the agenda for the Government to consider,” he says.
Our panel saw Thompson as the man at the helm at APRA, where “there’s definitely a clear message shooting down from up high that they’ve got to get more serious”.
“Whether you like it or not, APRA has been completely in your face [this year],” said one panel member.
For his part, Thompson believes the underperformance of equity markets — causing many funds to return negatively — has also indirectly raised APRA’s profile.
“There has been a greater focus from fund members on the returns they are getting from their investments and I think that in turn puts more pressure on us to ensure funds are being managed in a prudent and sensible way,” he says.
Thompson is also “very pleased” with the Government’s response to the Superannuation Working Group paper, released late in October.
“It will enable us to monitor the industry more effectively than we have been able to in the past,” he says.
Our panel noted that Thompson has been honest about APRA being caught on the back foot previously, but agreed APRA had been making good ground to catch up over the last six to nine months.
When he’s not watching the super industry, Thompson, a self-confessed ‘gym junkie’ is likely to be found ‘working-out’ three to four times a week. Thompson adds that he enjoys a good glass of wine, “and this is the reason he has to go the gym”.
