POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Funds cautious on divorce super splits
Superannuation funds should not be compelled to develop templated arrangements to help divorcing couples split their superannuation, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
While supporting simplification of the laws around divorce and superannuation, ASFA told the Australian Law Reform Commission that it does not agree that superannuation trustees should be required to develop standard splitting orders based on common scenarios.
In doing so, it said this would be effectively bringing superannuation funds into the divorce as a third party.
ASFA cited one member fund which advised that it completed around 2,000 family law responses a year and generally objected to around 20 per cent of the draft orders on the basis that they were poorly worded.
“This fund regularly encounters situations where the parties have used a standard template but have made amendments or included other orders that are inconsistent with the template,” the ASFA submission said.
Discussing the templating issue, the submission said, “Not only does this impose an unduly onerous obligation on the trustee - a third party - but there is a risk that a member and/or non-member spouse may rely on a ‘standard’ splitting order that is not appropriate to their circumstances and which may result in detriment”.
“If it were considered that superannuation splitting orders - in accumulation funds - are sufficiently uniform as to facilitate the creation of one or more standard orders then it would be appropriate if these were to be developed by the Family Court as a form, authorised by the Principal Registrar and published on the Family Court website,” it said. “In any event, standard forms should not apply to defined benefit schemes, due to the nature and complexity of defined benefit interests.”
Recommended for you
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.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
