August 2023
17Aug

Australian $100 bln pension fund targets private assets with London launch

Australia's third-largest pension fund will officially open its first overseas outpost in London in November, a senior company official said, pushing for more private market investments as the sector outgrows the confines of home. Aware Super, with A$160 billion ($102 billion) in assets, will set up in the district of St. James, popular with hedge funds and private equity firms, and plans to have a team of 14 by year end, according to Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of...

August 17, 2023
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July 2023
26Jul

Australia’s $2.5 trln pension stash is one to envy

Ask Hong Kong-based financial bigwigs where they have been jetting off to since the Asian hub lifted its coronavirus restrictions and a surprising number say Melbourne. Sure, mining giant BHP (BHP.AX) has its headquarters in Australia’s second-most populous city, it’s a self-anointed coffee capital and boasts top-notch restaurants. It is also home to some of the country’s largest pension funds. They have plenty of capital to deploy, are too big for their home market and they’re getting larger fast. Superannuation,...

July 26, 2023
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25Jul

Wall Street’s hottest ticket is these Australian funds

Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman has been tapping his Australian roots to access one of the world’s fastest-growing corners of global capital. The bank’s Melbourne-born boss is one of a string of executives from Wall Street and beyond doing more business with the largest players in Australia’s $3.5 trillion superannuation sector. The big attraction: inflows of more than $1 billion a week that need to find an investment destination. As the guardians of the country’s retirement savings outgrow their own backyard, they’re partnering...

July 25, 2023
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12Jul

Aboriginal Man Loses Pension Fight With Australian Government

Proud Wakka Wakka man Uncle Dennis* brought the case in which the Federal Government faced court for the first time in connection with its failure to close the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people. Despite recognising the ongoing gap in life expectancy, the Court did not accept that Australia's racial discrimination laws should give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people earlier access to the age pension. It comes on the same day as...

July 12, 2023
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June 2023
28Jun

Australia. The positive super and tax changes from July 1

All Aussie employees will receive 0.5% more as their superannuation guarantee lifts to 11% of their salary from July 1, up from 10.5%. The biggest winners will be employees on award wages or enterprise agreements negotiated by a union because the superannuation will be paid on top of their wage. For example, an employee on a wage who is paid $100,000 plus superannuation is currently receiving $10,500 into their superannuation but from July 1, they will be paid $11,000 into...

June 28, 2023
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May 2023
26May

Australia. Rising retirement costs outpace inflation

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), the annual budget for a comfortable retirement is a record $70,482 for a couple aged 65 and $50,004 for a single. It says a “modest” retirement costs $45,808 for a couple and $31,785 for singles – which can be largely covered by the age pension. Retirees continue to face significant upward pressure on their household budgets with the cost increase reporting higher than Australia’s CPI inflation, which rose 7% for the...

May 26, 2023
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19May

Can the Australian Judicial System Meet the Structural Challenges of Future Population Change?

By Brian Opeskin  This article examines the impact of population change on the evolution of the Australian judicial system. Through four case studies, it argues that demography is an important but overlooked lens through which to understand pressures on the judicial system over coming decades. The case studies examine the impact of increasing life expectancy on judicial tenure; of population ageing on judicial pensions; of international migration on judicial diversity; and of population redistribution on the spatial delivery of justice...

May 19, 2023
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08May

Australia’s big pension funds boost fossil fuel investments, activist group says

Australia's 30 biggest pension funds increased their investments in key coal, oil and gas producers by 50% in 2022 despite the funds' long term commitments to net zero carbon emissions, environmental activist group Market Forces said. Superannuation or retirement funds raised their investment to more than A$34 billion ($23 billion) in companies most responsible for expanding fossil fuels, Market Forces said. "Super funds are making a mockery of their own commitments to net zero by buying up wholesale in companies expanding...

May 8, 2023
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March 2023
24Mar

COVID-19 Private Pension Withdrawals and Unemployment Tenures

By Tristram Sainsbury, Robert V. Breunig & Timothy Watson This is the first study to evaluate the effects of early pension withdrawal policies on tenures on unemployment payments in the COVID-19 context. We use a novel set of linked whole-of-population administrative records to examine more than half-a-million Australians who found themselves newly on an unemployment payment in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We estimate that receiving a lump sum of up to A$10,000 from superannuation accounts at the...

March 24, 2023
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01Mar

Australia’s regulator sues Mercer pension fund in first greenwashing case

Australia's corporate regulator launched legal action against pension fund Mercer Superannuation on Tuesday, accusing it of misleading members about the sustainability of some of its investment options. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission's (ASIC) said this was its first court action alleging "greenwashing", or exaggerated claims of environment-friendly investment and products, which has garnered increased attention as interest rises in sustainable and ethical investment options. ASIC said last year it was stepping up oversight of climate-related reporting and was investigating several...

March 1, 2023
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