POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Timeframe for shortened PDS announced
Providers of superannuation products will have one year to reduce the size of their product disclosure statements (PDSs) to eight pages, under a new proposal by the Government.
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten said that from 22 June 2012 superannuation and simple managed investment scheme providers will need to cut their PDSs down and meet new content requirements.
The move is designed to help consumers, who have in some cases been forced to trawl through more than 100 pages to understand key information about financial products.
Transitional arrangements will be put in place to give product providers flexibility and ensure that all can meet the changes.
These include allowing product providers to continue to issue supplementary PDSs until 22 June 2012, as well as the option to adopt the new conformity from as soon as 22 June 2011.
Pure-risk products will be excluded from the new regime, irrespective of whether they are provided through superannuation, while combined defined benefit and accumulation products will be included.
The Assistant Treasurer stated that further changes to apply the shorter disclosure requirements to platforms and multi-funds are not currently in the works.
Financial Services Council director of policy, Martin Codina, said the changes would provide the industry with a smooth transition to the new eight-page regime.
"The Financial Services Council is especially pleased Minister Shorten has clarified that the new eight-page regime is not intended to apply to platforms and multi-funds," Codina said.
"The changes to exclude pure risk products from the regime are also a good outcome for consumers and the industry."
AUTHOR
Ashleigh McIntyre
Recommended for you
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
