The Federal Opposition is signalling it intends to move even further than the Government in terms of life-time fee disclosure with respect to superannuation.
The Opposition Spokes-man on Financial Services, Senator Stephen Conroy, says given the impact that fees can have on a person’s final retirement income, Labor believes it is important to disclose the cost of fees over time.
Conroy has used an address to the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) to refer to the failure of IFSA and the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia to reach agreement on a single fee model as requested by the Government.
He says that in the absence of such agreement, the Federal Treasury is currently working on a model and it is anticipated that it will be released within the next few months.
“In our view, the single fee model should provide consumers with a single fee to allow them to compare different products and in addition, should show consumers the cost of fees over time,” Conroy says. “Our objective is to empower consumers to make informed investment decisions.”
He says that to empower consumers, they have to be given the information they need to make an informed decision.
“In our view, the information needed includes the cost of fees over time,” Conroy says.
