If you’re going to be appointed to the trustee board of a superannuation fund choose a bank-owned retail fund or a large industry fund – you’ll get paid more.
That is the bottom line of answers provided by both retail and industry superannuation funds to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics.
The answers reveal that while the trustee directors employed on the National Australia Bank’s NULIS board received a total of $1,151,682 in directors fees equating to an average of $221,477, this compared to the trustees of the Australian Catholic Superannuation Fund who received an average salary of $57,370 a year.
This in turn compares to the $125,000 paid to trustee directors of the AMP superannuation funds, and the average remuneration of $118,103 paid to trustee directors of major retail industry superannuation fund, REST.
A number of large retail and industry funds have yet to respond to the questions on notice from the Parliamentary Committee.
The regulator has fined two super funds for misleading sustainability and investment claims, citing ongoing efforts to curb greenwashing across the sector.
Super funds have extended their winning streak, with balanced options rising 1.3 per cent in October amid broad market optimism.
Introducing a cooling off period in the process of switching super funds or moving money out of the sector could mitigate the potential loss to fraudulent behaviour, the outgoing ASIC Chair said.
Widespread member disengagement is having a detrimental impact on retirement confidence, AMP research has found.