September 2024
17Sep

Australia. Govt unveils legacy pension exit plan

The federal government has announced plans to allow people to exit legacy pensions over a five-year period by relaxing commutation restrictions and allocating reserves to SMSF members where those funds supported an income stream to that member. The proposed changes have been released for consultation and are contained within the draft Treasury Laws Amendment (Self-managed superannuation funds – legacy retirement product conversions and reserves) Regulations 2024 published today by Treasury. The explanatory statement to the regulations published by Treasury and Financial...

September 17, 2024
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August 2024
30Aug

Australian regulator plans stress test on private credit risks

Australia’s banking regulator plans to stress test the nation’s financial sector to shed more light on the impact of private credit capital flows on other market segments. “Private credit is a new and emerging risk that we are looking at,” said John Lonsdale, chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) at a media conference in Sydney on Aug. 28. “We want to work on more transparency in this area and we’ve signaled that already there is quite a lot...

August 30, 2024
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20Aug

Australian super fund titans back Prime Minister’s green manufacturing plan

Some of Australia’s super funds have for the first time backed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to stimulate green manufacturing industries, saying it would unlock private capital to help cut emissions and reach climate targets, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Albanese government hopes to pass the Future Made in Australia bill, designed to stimulate domestic manufacturing and high-tech industry in a similar fashion to the U.S.’s Inflation Reduction Act, by the end of the year. The plan is...

August 20, 2024
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12Aug

Australian Pensions Industry Boosts Investments in Natural Catastrophe Reinsurance

The risks from the growing number of natural disasters offer Australia’s largest pension funds a chance to boost returns. Colonial First State, one of the nation’s biggest pension and wealth managers, is looking to add natural catastrophe reinsurance to its A$151 billion portfolio ($99.5 billion), while rival Insignia Financial Ltd. posted returns of 16% in the category last financial year. Australia’s fast-growing pensions industry needs to find investment opportunities for the more than A$2 billion of inflows it gets every week....

August 12, 2024
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June 2024
05Jun

Australia’s Active Super found guilty of making misleading environmental claims

Australia's Federal Court has found superannuation fund Active Super guilty of making misleading claims concerning its environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, the country's securities regulator said on Wednesday. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had sued Active Super last year, disputing the fund's claims that it no longer held investments in gambling, coal mining and oil tar sands, and that it had exited Russian investments. The court found that between February 2021 and June 2023, Active Super invested in...

June 5, 2024
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May 2024
27May

Australian pension funds eye niche private debt to boost returns

AUSTRALIA’S pension giants are looking to expand their private credit exposure to some nascent products, as the cash-flushed industry hunts for ways to diversify portfolios and boost returns. AMP, one of Australia’s largest pension providers, has launched a new A$300 million (S$268 million) alternative debt fund to invest in credit risk transfer, a relatively new corner of the private market. Aware Super, which manages A$175 billion of assets, is also studying the market of niche products for investment potential. The nation’s...

May 27, 2024
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24May

Most Australians still relying on government pension on retirement

A government pension or allowance was still the main source of personal income at retirement according to the latest statistics from the Australia Bureau of Statistics. Forty-three per cent of retirees relied on a government pension, with 27 per cent relying on superannuation, an annuity or private pension. Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said over the past decade the number of people who said they had no personal income has fallen from 25 per cent in 2012-13 down to...

May 24, 2024
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15May

Google borra accidentalmente cuenta de fondo de pensiones de 125 mil millones de dólares

En un incidente sorprendente, Google ha cometido un error que resultó en la eliminación accidental de la cuenta privada de Google Cloud de UniSuper, un fondo de pensiones australiano que maneja un colosal fondo de 125 mil millones de dólares. El error dejó a más de medio millón de miembros del fondo UniSuper sin acceso a sus cuentas durante aproximadamente una semana, según lo informado por The Guardian. Afortunadamente, UniSuper contaba con una cuenta de respaldo con otro proveedor de servicios...

May 15, 2024
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15May

Google Cloud Accidentally Deletes Australian Superannuation Fund’s Data

The Australian superannuation fund UniSuper had its private cloud data deleted accidentally earlier this month, disrupting the fund’s services for the past couple of weeks. A configuration problem caused Google Cloud to delete UniSuper’s account. UniSuper, which has AUD 125 billion ($82.73 billion) in assets serving more than 615,000 beneficiaries, is working with Google Cloud to restore and backup the fund’s data. UniSuper said in a statement that it had backups of its data with a separate provider. UniSuper’s systems...

May 15, 2024
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April 2024
22Apr

Australian pension majors line up against Woodside ahead of AGM climate vote

Two of Australia's largest pension funds said on Monday they are voting against Woodside Energy's climate plan, ahead of its annual meeting on Wednesday, where the company's chairman is facing rare opposition from major investors. Aware Super, which manages A$170 billion ($109 billion) has voted against Woodside's climate transition action plan and the re-election of chair Richard Goyder to signal its displeasure over the company's efforts to cut emissions, according to a statement on Monday. “This decision has not been taken...

April 22, 2024
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