The days of contributing to a superannuation fund and then transferring to a specialist pension provider appear to be over, according to the latest analysis from actuarial consultancy Chant West.
The analysis, released this week, argues that to remain competitive superannuation funds are going to have to offer pensions in circumstances where pension type products in the retail space have grown very quickly.
The Chant West material suggests that while industry and public sector funds have sought to climb onto the pension products bandwagon, the assets in these products remain quite small, with the total pension assets of the 20 major industry and public sector funds only $11 billion out of a total of about $115 billion.
What is more, the research states that of that $11 billion, about $7 billion is accounted for by just two funds — Qsuper and Unisuper.
Looking at the best and worst performers, the Chant West research names the top five growth funds over the three years to June 30 as being Catholic Super Balanced with a return of 10.3 per cent, AGEST Balanced (10.2 per cent), Catholic Super Moderately Aggressive (9.5 per cent), JUST Balanced (9.3 per cent), and Sunsuper Growth (9.2 per cent).
It names the bottom five funds as AON Balanced (4.2 per cent), AXA Summit Active Balanced (5.3 per cent), Asset Medium Growth (5.3 per cent), United Capital Growth (5.7 per cent), and State Super FS Growth (6.2 per cent).
The two funds have announced the signing of a non-binding MOU to explore a potential merger.
The board must shift its focus from managing inflation to stimulating the economy with the trimmed mean inflation figure edging closer to the 2.5 per cent target, economists have said.
ASIC chair Joe Longo says superannuation trustees must do more to protect members from misconduct and high-risk schemes.
Super fund mergers are rising, but poor planning during successor fund transfers has left members and employers exposed to serious risks.