POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Industry funds open to criticism due to disclosure
Media Super chair Gerard Noonan said industry funds' high levels of disclosure had left them open to claims of misuse of member money and under-the-table payments.
Media Super has boosted disclosure in its 2011-12 annual report, including the salaries of its top-paid executives and payments to industry organisations to release directors from their day-to-day duties.
"It's one of the difficulties in disclosing this information - we leave ourselves a little bit open to what I think is a completely spurious charge that money is being paid to employer associations or unions as though it shouldn't be paid there.
"It's the downside of good disclosure," he said.
Noonan said finding information on retail funds was near impossible, including the names of the trustees. He said it was because many of the trustees were directors or senior executives of a bank.
"There's a clear conflict of interest between owning a for-profit and being the director of a trust where you are perhaps being obliged, or where there's a constitution about, whether you direct the investments back into the bank again," he said.
Noonan said that while industry funds had taken heed of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees' improved disclosure requirements, other areas of the super sector should be looking more closely at access to information.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Money Management staff writers are writers who contribute to the website from time to time. If you would like to discuss the content contained within this article please contact us.
Recommended for you
A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in both public and private markets.
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.
Earlier this month, several Australian superannuation funds fell victim to credential stuffing attacks, which saw a small number of members lose more than $500,000.
Small- to medium-sized funds have become collateral damage in an "imperfect" model for super industry levies, a financial institution has said.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
93.34 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
36.96 3 y p.a(%)
3
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
34.22 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
29.68 3 y p.a(%)
5
VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF (AU)
28.89 3 y p.a(%)
