This Month
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Super performance test needs changing because the world is burning
Why would we not seek to harness Australia’s $3.6 trillion retirement income system in the decarbonisation race, while leaving it up to superannuation funds to make the investment decisions?
- Jeremy Cooper
Pfizer paid little tax on $1.4b in COVID vaccine sales
Vaccine maker Pfizer paid just $29 million in local tax on its $1.4 billion of sales in Australia during the pandemic, raising political questions about the adequacy of the pharmaceutical giant’s tax payments.
- John Kehoe
Ease income tax burden automatically, says Westpac’s Ellis
Tax brackets should be adjusted annually to help limit the squeeze on household incomes, former RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis says.
- John Kehoe
Industry super giant nabs new CEO from London
Retail super veteran David Anderson will join the Australian Retirement Trust after 35-plus years at Mercer and AMP from March.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Watering down super fund tests risks lower returns
Adjusting the performance test methodology could make green investments more viable. But super fund members should be wary that they could end up being the losers.
- John Kehoe
Default pension could leave retirees worse off: Aware Super
This goes against suggestions flagged by Treasury and pushed for by rival funds that older customers could be defaulted into retirement products this week.
- Hannah Wootton and Joanna Mather
- Opinion
- Superannuation
How Chalmers can solve the key dilemma for retirees
Australians lack options for help and support on superannuation, but the X factor may be on the horizon.
- Alexis George
‘This time it’s different’ for notoriously unloved annuities
Australians in defined benefit schemes are increasingly choosing lifetime income streams over lump sums.
- Joanna Mather and Hannah Wootton
Big super split on plan for automatic super pension
Australia’s biggest superannuation funds are split on whether customers should be automatically rolled into pension products once they reach retirement age.
- Hannah Wootton and Joanna Mather
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Advice is the missing link in super’s retirement debate
Australia needs the retirement phase of super to work. But personalisation means better access to advice in a post royal commission world is vital.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Super must deliver in retirement phase
Although there is an appreciation of super’s importance in saving for the future, less attention has been given to how it can be optimised in retirement.
- Jim Chalmers
November
- Opinion
- GST
Danielle Wood must help undo GST deal
The new chairwoman of the Productivity Commission has an opportunity to help reverse one of the most ill-advised public policy decisions of this century.
- Saul Eslake
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
King Charles, Jamie Dimon and me: Super fund CEO’s big moment
Aware Super boss Deanne Stewart found herself standing alongside Jamie Dimon and Stephen Schwarzman as they met King Charles. Here’s what he asked her.
- James Thomson
ASFA debunks $3m super tax farm sale fears
One-third of super savers with more than $3 million also had an investment property, research has found, and one-third of those negatively geared that asset.
- Hannah Wootton
Offset home loans with superannuation, says Liberal
Senator Andrew Bragg is proposing home borrowers be allowed to shift their superannuation balances into mortgage offset accounts to reduce the sting of interest rate rises.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
UniSuper faces customer uprising over climate targets
Thousands of UniSuper’s academic customer base are demanding the fund adopt more rigorous and science-based decarbonisation targets.
- Hannah Wootton
‘Intergenerational tragedy’: Will the kids be all right?
This week on The Fin podcast, economics editor John Kehoe on why young Australians are at risk of a poorer future and what reforms are needed.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Every second, $634 flows to AusSuper. No wonder Origin deal looks dead
The battle for Origin Energy shows how the flood of money into Australia’s massive super funds is changing their influence over capital markets and the economy.
- James Thomson
AusSuper to use ‘disproportionate’ footprint to block Origin deal
Several super funds have backed the giant’s stance that there are insufficient opportunities to deploy their capital in the energy transition locally.
- Hannah Wootton
ASIC one of the most active enforcers in the world: Longo
The watchdog also put super funds on notice of more scrutiny, flagging member service failures and offences relating to eroding balances as key enforcement priorities for 2024.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton and Patrick Durkin
