06/24/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2022 18:32
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ASIC today released the findings from its review of superannuation trustees' communications with their members following the first annual performance test for MySuper products.
The test measures the performance of MySuper products against prescribed benchmarks according to a trustee's own strategic asset allocation.
Report 729 Review of trustee communications about the MySuper performance test (REP 729) focuses on ASIC's review of performance test communications by the 12 trustees of the 13 products that failed the test in 2021 (details below).
The review found that trustees whose products failed generally complied with the legal obligations to notify their members of the failed test and to disclose the failed test on their website. However, the communication strategies of some trustees may have risked confusing or misleading members about their product's performance.
ASIC's REP 729 identifies communication strategies of concern including, for example:
ASIC Commissioner Danielle Press said, 'The performance test supports transparency of product performance for members so they can make more informed investment decisions. Trustees should act in their members' best financial interests by being transparent about the performance of their product. They should communicate their performance test results to members in a balanced, clear and factual way.
'Communication strategies that don't prominently disclose the test result or obscure the importance of a failed result in some way are not acceptable,' Ms Press said.
Since the performance test results were first released by APRA in August 2021, a number of funds with products that failed the test have now merged or are in the process of merging with another fund.
Commissioner Press said, 'For the 2022 performance test, we expect trustee communications to reflect our expectations for prominence, balance and clarity set out in REP 729, including where products fail for a second time. Where we see a need to, ASIC will take appropriate action to protect consumers.'
Trustee |
Fund |
MySuper Product |
AvSuper Pty Ltd |
AvSuper Fund |
AvSuper Growth (MySuper) |
BOC Superannuation Pty Ltd |
BOC Gases Superannuation Fund |
BOC MySuper |
BT Funds Management Limited |
ASGARD Independence Plan Division Two |
ASGARD Employee MySuper |
BT Funds Management Limited |
Retirement Wrap |
BT Super MySuper |
Christian Super Pty Limited |
Christian Super |
My Ethical Super |
Colonial First State Investments Limited |
Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust |
FirstChoice Employer Super |
Commonwealth Bank Officers Superannuation Corporation Pty Limited |
Commonwealth Bank Group Super |
Accumulate Plus Balanced |
Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited |
AMG Super |
AMG MySuper |
Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme Pty Ltd |
Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme - Pool A |
Balanced (MySuper) |
L.U.C.R.F. Pty. Ltd. |
Labour Union Co-Operative Retirement Fund |
MySuper Balanced |
Maritime Super Pty Limited |
Maritime Super |
MySuper Investment Option |
SCS Super Pty. Limited |
Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund |
LifetimeOne |
V.I.S Nominees Pty. Limited |
The Victorian Independent Schools Superannuation Fund |
VISSF (Balanced Option (MySuper Product) |
The performance test was introduced by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Your Future, Your Super) Act 2021 with the purpose of holding trustees to account for underperformance through greater transparency and increased consequences. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) conducted the first performance test in August 2021.
The test involves an assessment of:
Prior to the performance test, in August 2021, ASIC wrote to trustees whose products were at a high risk of failing the test to set expectations and remind them of their legal obligations should their product fail. This included warnings about not engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.
For REP 729, ASIC reviewed the performance-related disclosures and communications of a sample of 30 trustees, including all trustees whose products failed the test, and looked for potentially misleading or deceptive representations.
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