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Read more...Communicating the value of employee benefits to employees
TOSKA KOUSKOS Those who know me, recognise that I’m by no means a ‘techie’. However, when technologies are made available to communicate – I sit up and take notice. So, I thought I’d dedicate my first ever blog to the subject of “effectively communicating the value of employee benefits”, and specifically in my case – […]
Read more...Smart Retirement Solutions..
Jennifer Grefen It’s an exciting time for NMG to be launching a new website because we have certainly got a lot to share with our clients, prospective clients and those looking to expand their knowledge about the retirement industry or employee benefits. The first bit of exciting news is that NMG Benefits is re-launching its […]
Read more...Yes, a super fund does need a business strategy
There’s a general sense that APRA is making life harder for super funds of all stripes, as part of an effort to drive up management and board standards, and encourage industry consolidation. We’ve written previously about SPS530, which raised prudential standards for investment governance. Its requirements for an overall investment governance framework, and an investment strategy, […]
Read more...Unisuper’s Westfield battle a sign of things to come
The recent dispute between Unisuper, other investors, and Westfield over the restructuring of Westfield Retail Trust (WRT) as “Scentre” provides a great case study of the changing investment priorities of Australia’s super funds. Notwithstanding that the proposal ultimately succeeded, it failed on the first attempt to get 75% approval due to the opposition of a group […]
Read more...Award default super: where to now?
For a process with so much at stake, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) review of super defaults for the 120 or so modern industrial awards (a cornerstone of Australia’s workplace relations system) has turned into quite the shambles. Award defaults determine the flow of a significant minority of compulsory super contributions. It’s not the only […]
Read more...Gearing and the missing SMSF taxes
Having established that the SMSF segment has not paid a decent amount of net taxes since 2009, we’ve drilled a bit down further into the SMSF tax return data. The key drivers of the missing SMSF taxes are (a) around half the assets in the segment are in the (for now) tax exempt pension phase; and (b) […]
Read more...UK review highlights potential savings from fund mergers
A just released UK report into public sector pension fund costs also highlights the potential for Australian super funds to achieve cost savings for members via mergers. The report, which can be found here, was prepared in respect of the UK Local Government Pension Schemes – 89 separate but sub-scale local government funds – to identify […]
Read more...What’s worth $500bn and is paying no tax? Yes, SMSFs.
Last week we looked at the small contribution superannuation is making to Commonwealth tax revenues, making it a target for future measures, albeit perhaps not in the coming Budget. Data just out from the ATO adds a lot more colour to that picture, with detailed statistics released relating to individuals, companies, trusts, and of course […]
Read more...Days of tax exempt pension divisions are coming to an end
In the wake of the Commission of Audit and leading up to the 2014-15 Federal Budget, much focus has been on the affordability of Australia’s public pension arrangements – despite the growth of Australia’s super system to $1.6tn, 80%+ of the population is expected to retain access to the public pension, even over the long […]
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