The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has welcomed the super reforms announced by the Federal Government this morning but said it would still lobby to increase the concessional cap to $50,000.
AIST chief executive Tom Garcia said the institute was pleased the changes did not alter the structure of the super system.
"The changes do bring about a small level of greater equity for the members of funds, but more needs to be done for the lower paid, women and ordinary Australians," he said.
Garcia said higher concessional caps and a less punitive excess contributions tax would benefit some not-for-profit funds.
"The changes to the concessional caps enable those who haven't had the ability to contribute to super throughout their entire working life the opportunity to fast-track their retirement savings," he said.
"This is a move in the right direction, and AIST will continue to advocate for reinstating the $50,000 cap."
Garcia expressed AIST's interest in becoming involved in the newly announced Council of Super Custodians.
"The super debate needs be held on the basis of achieving certainty, adequacy, fairness and sustainability for all working Australians, and AIST would be pleased to be an active participant on the Government Charter Group," he said.
Private market assets in super have surged, while private debt recorded the fastest growth among all investment types.
The equities investor has launched a new long-short fund seeded by UniSuper, targeting alpha from ASX 300 equities using AI insights.
The fund has strengthened efforts to boost gender diversity, targeting 40:40:20 balance across its investment teams by 2030.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.