The Government has confirmed it is moving ahead with progressing the Retirement Income Covenant which was deferred last year to 1 July, 2022.
Speaking at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF), Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services, and the Digital Economy and Minister for Women’s Economic Security, Jane Hume, said the purpose of the retirement income system was to provide income in retirement and smooth consumption between working life and retirement.
Hume said the covenant would require trustees to have a strategy to generate higher retirement incomes for members.
“The covenant allows super funds the flexibility to tailor their retirement income strategy to their specific membership base, while also allowing them to deliver solutions they think will work best for the particular cohorts of members in their fund,” she said.
“Once we pass the Your Future, Your Super reforms, this is the next cab off the rank.”
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.