POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Pension taper rates, not super are the problem
The validity of current Age Pension taper rates were more problematic than the state of the superannuation system when it came to looking at retirement incomes in Australia, according to Australian Super chief executive, Ian Silk.
Speaking on a panel during the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) national conference in Melbourne, Silk said that he believed there needed to be more focus on the inter-relationship between the Age Pension and Superannuation.
He said he believed the Government’s retirement income review was a really good idea in circumstances where Australia had not really had a holistic examination of the retirement incomes regime.
However, Silk said it needed to thoroughly examine the inter-relationship between superannuation and the Age Pension.
“And that is where the assets and income test comes into play and the question of taper rates,” he said.
Silk said that, in his view and despite the critics, it was not the superannuation system that was at fault, it was the taper rate.
Mercer partner and ASFA board member, Jo-Anne Bloch agreed with Silk and said that more attention needed to be turned to the decumulation phase.
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(%)
