While the Federal Government opted to close down the separately-mandated Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has signalled it is prepared to establish a separate division to cover regulation of superannuation.
In its formal response to the Government-initiated APRA capability review, the regulator signalled its agreement to a recommendation that it create “a Superannuation Division, headed by an Executive General Manager”, which would have a key focus of monitoring the overall performance of the superannuation system for members.
APRA said it supported the recommendation which would be implemented as part of an organisation restructure.
The regulator also signalled its acceptance of the review’s recommendation that it “embed and reinforce its increasing focus on member outcomes, including publishing objective benchmarks on product performance and developing a superannuation performance tool to replace PAIRs [Probability and Impact Rating System] by the end of this year”.
APRA said its work on performance benchmarking and data collection would be a priority.
The regulator also agreed that its member outcomes mandate should be more explicit and supported this occurring via the Government issuing a Statement of Expectations.
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.
The fund has unveiled reforms to streamline death benefit payments, cut processing times, and reduce complexity.
A ratings firm has placed more prominence on governance in its fund ratings, highlighting that it’s not just about how much money a fund makes today, but whether the people running it are trustworthy, disciplined, and able to deliver for members in the future.
AMP has reached an agreement in principle to settle a landmark class action over fees charged to members of its superannuation funds, with $120 million earmarked for affected members.