The Actuaries Institute has commended the government on its various measures to improve superannuation announced in the Budget but believe it had not leveraged the Retirement Income Review to make more impactful changes to the retirement incomes system.
The institute welcomed the removal of the $450 per month super guarantee threshold, the increase in the First Home Super Saver to $50,000, and the increase in the Pension Loans Scheme to provide more Australians with flexibility for funding their retirement.
However, it said the Government did not address measures to help non-homeowners in retirement, particularly some of the most at risk of poverty in retirement – single female renters.
Actuaries Institute president, Jefferson Gibbs, said: “The system also still lacks an overall objective for superannuation and its role in supporting retirement incomes.
“The Institute urges the government to provide clarity on the purpose of superannuation, to enable more substantive reforms to be sensibly made to improve the system.”
The institute also commended the government for taking steps to help Australians protect themselves against the risk of shock events, such as natural disasters. The government announced detail about a reinsurance pool which was backed by a $10 billion government guarantee to improve affordability of insurance premiums in northern Australia.
Actuaries Institute chief executive, Elayne Grace, said: “Overall, the Institute welcomes targeted spending that increases the wellbeing of all Australians and is particularly pleased to see a significant increase in spending on many important areas, including aged care, mental health and having a strong and fair National Disability Insurance Scheme”.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.