Industry Super Australia (ISA) chief executive, David Whiteley is worried that the industry funds movement may no longer have the collectivist attitude that allowed it to successfully campaign against adviser commissions in the superannuation industry and the broader financial services industry.
Sitting on a panel of industry superannuation fund stalwarts at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF), Whiteley referenced the more than 20-year-long campaign waged by the industry funds against commissions and said he was worried that the unanimity of purpose which had delivered that outcome might not be evident on the part of all industry funds today.
Sitting alongside Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president, Ged Kearney and Industry Funds Services chairman, Garry Weaven, Whiteley said people from other parts of the financial services industry were becoming part of the industry fund environment and changing attitudes towards collectivism.
He said it needed to be remembered that over the more than 20-year campaign against commissions, not one single industry fund had paid commissions but this solidarity might not be evident today.
Kearney agreed with Whiteley and said that industry funds needed to be careful about the people they recruited to ensure they understood the philosophy of collectivism.
Garry Weaven said that many of those recruited by industry funds were those with technical investment management expertise developed in the financial services industry which did not represent a great ethical training ground; however he acknowledged that their skills had to be valued when they delivered great outcomes for members.
