The Federal Government has used the Budget papers to reinforce its intention to impose a “retirement covenant” on superannuation funds.
The Budget papers confirmed the Government’s intention to amend the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act) “to introduce a retirement covenant that will require superannuation trustees to formulate a retirement income strategy for superannuation fund members”.
The Budget papers said the Government would also amend the Corporations Act 2001 to introduce a requirement for providers of retirement income products to report simplified, standardised metrics in product disclosure to assist customer decision making.
The Budget announcement comes amid industry concerns that a one size fits all approach will not be appropriate with respect to the development of Comprehensive Income Products in Retirement (CIPRs).
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.