POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Marketing, not innovation mark new super products
A Parliamentary Committee has been told that what may appear to be innovative new offers in the superannuation space are just the selling of well-marketed high-cost products.
Consumer group Choice told the Senate Economics Legislation Committee that the some of the superannuation products are not as innovative as they might pretend to be.
Choice campaigns and communications director, Erin Turner told the Committee’s review of Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) regulatory sandbox that there were products in the market which claimed to be innovative but were not either innovative or good.
“We've drawn a few examples in our submission. Payday lenders are now innovating in the way that they're assessing people quite quickly, sometimes in a matter of minutes, to offer a very quick, little loan—a very harmful, quick, little loan,” she said.
“The other example is in the superannuation space. We've seen innovative new offers which are really just selling high-cost superannuation products,” Turner said.
“The innovation seems to be in the marketing. They are targeting people quite aggressively in certain segments online and through social media. They're very good at that, but I wouldn't say that the product or service itself is good for consumers.”
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(%)
