A joint survey from Deloitte and the Institute of Charted Accountants of 22 leading superannuation funds has prompted new calls to appoint a single regulator to the sector to make compliance obligations easier to achieve.
Participants of the Governance of Superannuation Funds survey nominated the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) as the industry body that should perform the function primarily on the grounds of experience.
However, the suggestion was not very practical, Deloitte Superannuation Partner Richard Rassi said.
"That's all well and good but really the more practical solution to that would at least be to achieve reporting through a single regulator," Rassi said.
"Trying to amalgamate all the regulators is not a short-term deliverable [outcome]."
Respondents were also keen for APRA to improve the regulation process regarding alternative investments in light of the increased use of these products.
"One of the recommendations participants made was for APRA to provide focused prudential guidance to the industry on the risks associated with alternative assets an how to manage them more effectively," Rassi said.
He said he felt super fund directors should receive more education in this area to further improve the understanding of these instruments.
On a positive note, most of the super funds surveyed felt there had been an improvement in the discipline and structure around their governance practices since the introduction of the registralbe superannuation entity (RSE) licensing regime.
In addition, 66 per cent of respondents thought board risk management practices had significantly changed due to RSE licensing.
The study was conducted between October and December 2007 by way of focus sessions and online questionnaires and included the responses from organisations holding a significant proportion of funds under management in Australia.
