Super funds' risk appetites need to be translated into operational measures that can be used throughout various parts of the business and for different types of risk, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) member Ian Laughlin has said.
Speaking at The Actuaries Institute Conference, Laughlin said risk appetite needed to be translated, as quantifiably as possible, into tolerances for day-to-day business purposes which accommodated different audiences.
This could eliminate any inconsistencies and allow a process to amend unworkable tolerances due to changing market conditions.
Laughlin said although there was no best-practice approach to expressing risk appetite via a risk-appetite statement, trustees often commonly confused the idea of risk controls or check-points with appetite.
"To help avoid this sort of problem, it is useful to think in terms of outcomes — that is, in considering a particular risk type, what is the worst outcome that could be considered to be acceptable," he said.
A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in both public and private markets.
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.
Earlier this month, several Australian superannuation funds fell victim to credential stuffing attacks, which saw a small number of members lose more than $500,000.
Small- to medium-sized funds have become collateral damage in an "imperfect" model for super industry levies, a financial institution has said.