Start from scratch on industry representation - Vamos

There are too many organisations seeking to represent the superannuation industry and it may be time to "blow it apart and start from scratch", according to Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) chief executive Pauline Vamos.

Speaking at a roundtable conducted by Money Management's sister publication Super Review last week, Vamos referred to the existence of ASFA, the Industry Super Network (ISN), the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and the Financial Services Council (FSC) and said "we've got to blow it apart and we've got to start from scratch".

"We're starting from the position of ISN, FSC, AIST, ASFA. Let's ignore that structure and think about what should we be delivering and then work backwards — and that's the message I've given to my board," Vamos said. "Let's put everything on the table and talk about what should be the mission, what should be the outcome and then work backwards. It will take us two years to get there but let's start that conversation."

The roundtable, sponsored by major insurer Metlife, followed on from the announcement by FSC chief executive John Brogden that his organisation had entered into a policy-development arrangement with the ISN. Brogden told the roundtable that he agreed with Vamos that there were too many voices seeking to represent the industry.

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"Ultimately it's a matter for the member companies as to how that might change, but there's no doubt that we diminish the industry by going to Canberra with either complete disagreements or more likely slight disagreements which makes it look petty," he said. "So from our perspective the view of the FSC board was it was time to probably breach what was regarded as the biggest gap between the retail and industry funds. And it was particularly driven by the fact, if I can use this phrase, [that] the war is over."

Further, Brogden said MySuper represented a legislative default product, and commissions were gone.

"So a lot of the big battles that separated the two extreme ends of the industry, if I can use that phrase, have disappeared, and the FSC's broader membership base has as clients industry funds. So it makes a lot of sense for us to be more broadly positioned," he said.