Philippa Smith believes the superannuation industry has been through one of its toughest years ever, confronted by a range of highly complex and time-consuming issues which had the capacity to leave it exhausted.
It is therefore testimony to her leadership at the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA) that the industry has managed to weather the uncertain environment created by regulatory and corporate governance issues to emerge ready to address the big picture issues likely to emerge in an election year.
“ASFA has produced a mountain of top-quality work under her leadership. It’s been a major force behind the Co-Contribution/Surcharge deal. Its best practice papers had record demand from superannuation funds and it’s been pushing disclosure debate along with consumer testing,” noted one of those who nominated Smith this year.
“The amount of work ASFA does for and on behalf of its members, that is the broad spectrum of players in the superannuation and retirement planning industry, is enormous,” added another.
“Whether it be in providing tools for members to use in coping with regulatory change and responding to the myriad issues that arise from day to day; in providing a first class education and training program; in creating forums for members to network and exchange views; or in the all important lobbying for reform — not only at the broader policy level (which is mostly the public) but behind the scenes on countless small but extremely important issues — Smith as CEO of ASFA is the one driving it all on.
“She has an amazing capacity to be across all of the important issues. And she is incredibly passionate about, and committed to, the important role superannuation plays in every Australian’s retirement prospects.”
Confronted by the uncertainties thrown up over the past 12 months, Smith says ASFA has sought to provide guidance and to be proactive in identifying problems and seeking to ensure that many of the new regulations confronting superannuation funds will actually work.
“It has really been a case of getting down to the nitty gritty of dealing with FSR and risk management,” she says. “This has been a huge process.”
Looking ahead, Smith believes that with 2004 being an election year, ASFA will be focusing on the big picture issues, something it had been precluded from doing while dealing with the highly complex environment of 2003.
She says those big picture issues include ensuring adequate retirement incomes for Australians are combined with more flexibility.
