superannuation

Just before Christmas, the Productivity Commission presented its final 700-page report to the Government titled “Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness”. The Government released it to the public in early January. Show More

10 years ago, Jeremy Cooper, now Chairman of Retirement Income at Challenger, chaired the Federal Government’s Super System Review, commonly known as the Cooper Review. With the final report from the Banking Royal Commission due to be released in a couple of days, we took the opportunity to talk to... Show More

In my first column for the year, I reflect on the debate I kicked off regarding the absence of any publicly managed super solution and the role the Future Fund could play in this context. After dealing with criticisms from vested interests, I query whether Chris Bowen has unwittingly wedged... Show More

Today I write that in 1992 Paul Keating created forced public saving via superannuation yet, in an unusual oversight for an otherwise inspired policy, offered no public super solution (click on that link to read the full column or AFR subs can click here). Excerpt only: Show More

Today I write about the following puzzle: Over 90 per cent of the equity raised by Australian companies is funded via the domestic stock market. Yet when these same companies issue safer debt (or bonds), which have predetermined returns and rank above shares in bankruptcy, local capital is suddenly missing... Show More

When it comes to investing, Australians forego their ‘globetrotter’ reputation and rarely look past local companies. In consumption, however, we are far worldlier and have embraced international brands such as Apple, Samsung, Google, BP and Toyota. Show More

The ALP proposal to limit refunding of franking credits will clearly impact pension phase self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). We believe it has the potential to impact many other superannuation funds. In this paper we build a model of the key variables which determine whether a superannuation fund is likely to... Show More

In the scramble for customers, some fund managers and superannuation providers are taking on additional risk, investing in a range of assets and deeming them ‘cash’ when clearly they are not. Show More

The announcement by the Australian Labor Party (“the ALP”) of its policy shift to stop the cash rebate of franked dividends was predictable … and is alarming. Show More

In the AFR today I argue that Peter Costello is right that there is a role for the government to play in providing super savers with a public sector alternative to existing super funds---in fact, I argued exactly the same thing at length way back in 2009 with my "KangaSupa"... Show More

On Friday the 9th June, the AFR ran an excellent article on the new breed of superannuation funds hitting the Australian market place, most of whom are targeted towards Gen-Y and millennials, Australia’s most populous generation. “Inside the multi-billion dollar battle for Millennials’ super”, which you can access here, looked... Show More

Ahead of what is likely to be a controversial budget, anticipation is further stimulated by the plethora of policy suggestions and thought bubbles that have been leaked by the Treasury Department. The task set for the Government and Treasurer encapsulates a range of serious problems far greater than simply balancing... Show More

The last few weeks in Australia have been dominated by talk of a housing bubble, and potential government measures to improve affordability, including the use of superannuation. Show More

Last week's AFR contains an interesting article on housing affordability and a new front on the crisis. It addresses the emerging issue of retirees draining their superannuation savings to pay off their mortgages and then go on the aged pension. Effectively defeating the purpose of superannuation. Show More

There’s a residential real estate affordability problem (I’m not fond of the word ‘crisis’ because not many things really are a crisis) in this country. Affordability, no matter what the good or service, is generally due to scarcity, or to put it another way demand supply imbalance. How do you... Show More

In The AFR I evaluate the "big interest rate duration short" and find that it has delivered in spades with the value of a AAA rated portfolio of Australian government bonds suffering a savage, two standard deviation plus loss of more than 2 percentage points (in total return terms) since... Show More

There’s a worrying new trend happening in superannuation that no one seems to have noticed: the amount of post tax money that Self Managed Super Fund savers have been putting away was approximately 10 per cent lower in the June quarter 2016 than it was in the same quarter last... Show More

If, like me, you assumed Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison was going to go easy on well-established superannuation savers in the Budget, you likely share my slightly queasy feeling. It turns out we’re more alone that we first thought and that a changing landscape may call for a change in strategy. Show More

The Australian Financial Review is reporting that today Brad Cooper, the chief executive of BT Financial Group, will call for “retirees to start paying income tax on annual superannuation earnings of more than $150,000 in a push to secure changes so the system can meet the retirement and budgetary needs... Show More

Just shy of 80% of the net worth of everyday Australians is trapped inside owner occupied housing and superannuation. That is the finding's of a Roy Morgan survey which spoke to over 250,000 Australian's. Show More