Speaking on Wednesday, ASIC chair Joe Longo claimed super-related complaints were spiking, citing figures from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
Yet, just hours later at its member forum, AFCA reported a 33 per cent drop in super complaints, falling to 2,747 between 1 July and 31 December.
“That’s quite a significant drop from what we have seen in the past,” said Heather Gray, lead ombudsman. “It’s really lovely to be able to tell you today that we are seeing that slowing of superannuation complaints.
“Of course, when there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of transactions going on within a superannuation fund, there will be cases where people will have issue to do with the way that their account was administered,” the lead ombudsman said, alongside praising funds for “putting a lot of work” into resolving member issues.
Asked whether members sometimes have “unreasonable” expectations regarding the level of service they should receive, Gray said: “Yes, I think sometimes members’ expectations are unreasonable.
“Some of it is just not realistic ... But those expectations are getting greater and greater in the time that I’ve been at AFCA, which is five years, I’ve definitely seen that.”
Gray and Longo’s assertions were largely at odds, with the ASIC chair going as far as to suggest that super trustees “don’t know their business”.
The remark caught the attention of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) CEO Mary Delahunty, who called it a “confusing overreach that risks undermining faith” in super.
“Publicly deriding trustees who oversee institutions that provide Australians with excellent returns on one of their most important investments is a puzzling approach,” she said.
Earlier on Wednesday, ASIC launched a lawsuit against AustralianSuper over delayed processing of nearly 7,000 death benefit claims, coming just weeks after the country’s largest super fund was ordered to pay $27 million for failing to merge duplicate member accounts.
The corporate regulator alleged between 1 July 2019 and 18 October 2024, AustralianSuper failed to process death benefit claims efficiently, honestly and fairly when it took between four months and four years from the date the claim form was returned to assess at least 6,897 deaths.
Addressing the action, Longo said it was about “protecting vulnerable Australians and their families”.
While AFCA, at its forum, acknowledged delays in respect to complaints relating to death benefits, its senior ombudsman, Anne Maree Howley, said death benefit complaints have “pleasingly” decreased in the 2024 calendar year – from 379 in 2023 to 129 last year.
“What is particularly notable is that in the last two quarters it was down to 33, so that’s a very significant and pleasing decrease, which we hope continues,” Howley said.
On Wednesday, Longo disclosed ASIC will have “more to say” on super in a new report on member services in coming weeks.
The super sector has been under increasing scrutiny this year, with ASIC earlier this month placing an onus on the sector for its role in both the growth of private markets and the contraction in public markets.
In a paper exploring the evolution of Australia’s capital markets, the corporate regulator highlighted the high likelihood that superannuation funds will further entrench the “opaque” private markets sector within the economy.
Responding to ASIC at the time, Delahunty highlighted the importance of private markets for improving diversification within superannuation fund portfolios, and thereby “improving the reliability of long-term returns for members.”
“ASIC’s research shows how concentrated the listed equity markets have become, specifically for the US within global equity markets but also within Australia,” the CEO said, warning that any increase in regulatory burden by ASIC could disincentivise superannuation funds from diversifying out of listed markets.
This, she stressed, will impact member returns.
“The exposure to private markets has been a great driver of returns for Australians. It is important to remember super funds have delivered typical returns of at least 10.5 per cent for 2024, which is real money in real accounts for real people retiring,” Delahunty added.
