The reforms currently allow cash and bank bill investments to be aggregated by the relevant institution and remove the requirement to disclose maturity dates and counterparty names.
“These changes will further support strengthening the transparency of the superannuation system and assist members in making more informed decisions,” minister for superannuation Jane Hume said this week.
The reforms have been consistently discussed since passing Parliament in June and after the regulations were released earlier this month.
Last week, super funds were divided on the government’s “backflip” on the use of administration fees in the Your Future, Your Super legislation, with industry fund advocacy body Industry Super Australia saying it would see underperforming funds barred from taking on new member money if they fail multiple times.
“This not only allows dud super funds to whitewash years of fee gouging, it also gives unscrupulous players free reign to fiddle the books and shift costs to the investment side with little impact on its performance assessment,” Industry Super said.
“Through creative bookkeeping funds could still be charging members the same high fees but sneak through the test.
“Members would then never be told their fund is an inferior performer.”
Consultation for the portfolio holding disclosure regulations is open now and closes on 31 August.
Neil Griffiths
Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.
Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.
