APRA is proposing to collect more data in areas including super funds’ trustee board governance and investment liquidity and valuations.
In the latest phase of its Superannuation Data Transformation project, the prudential regulator’s discussion paper outlined the areas where more data is needed.
These are:
Deputy chair Margaret Cole said APRA has aimed to minimise disruption by focusing on data that is already held by the funds.
“Deeper and richer data from trustees will significantly enhance APRA’s ability to improve industry transparency, governance, and practices and ultimately lead to better outcomes for members” Cole said.
“In developing these proposals, APRA has sought to minimise regulatory burden on industry by requesting data that trustees already hold. We have also worked closely with peer agencies with the goal of ‘collect once and share’ where feasible.”
Submissions on the consultation will close on 31 March 2024.
In October, the regulator announced it is consulting on the publication of data around superannuation funds’ expenditure to provide members with greater transparency of their funds.
This could include total expenses of promotion, marketing and sponsorship, all expenses with industrial bodies, all expenses with related parties, total director and executive remuneration expenses, and political donations.
Under the additional asset allocation data, this could include property and infrastructure by sector classification, ownership model and development stage, alternative strategy funds by strategy type, listed equity by market capitalisation type and active/passive management, and private equity by development stage and strategy type.
Vanguard Super has reported strong returns across most of its investment options, attributed to a “low-cost, index-based approach”.
The fund has achieved double-digit returns amid market volatility, reinforcing the value of long-term investment strategies for its members.
Australian super funds notched a third consecutive year of strong returns, with the median balanced option delivering an estimated 10.1 per cent over the 2024-25 financial year, but an economist has warned that the rally may be harder to sustain as key risks gather pace.
AustralianSuper has reported a 9.52 per cent return for its Balanced super option for the 2024–25 financial year, as markets delivered another year of strong performance despite the complex investing environment.