On the back of strong results from Challenger's life insurance business, chief executive Brian Benari said the increased demand for reliable retirement income streams is forcing both sides of politics to consider removing some of the existing impediments in deferred annuities.
He said although baby boomers had been accumulating their own superannuation, product providers were recognising that there was a need to have differentiated products for accumulation accounts and retirees.
This need would only continue to grow over the next 20 years as the retirement wave raged on, Benari said.
"There's a lot of reviews going on — there's a superannuation roundtable being run by Bill Shorten and its next meeting is in March," he said.
"Similarly, the Opposition has also come out — this was a release from (Shadow Treasurer) Joe Hockey a couple of weeks ago — whereby they said they would also look to address the impediments around retirement income solutions."
Benari added that many of the industry associations, including the Financial Services Council and Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, have also recognised that these impediments need to be addressed.
The super fund announced that Gregory has been appointed to its executive leadership team, taking on the fresh role of chief advice officer.
The deputy governor has warned that, as super funds’ overseas assets grow and liquidity risks rise, they will need to expand their FX hedge books to manage currency exposure effectively.
Super funds have built on early financial year momentum, as growth funds deliver strong results driven by equities and resilient bonds.
The super fund has announced that Mark Rider will step down from his position of chief investment officer (CIO) after deciding to “semi-retire” from full-time work.