Superannuation News
New superannuation fund identity fraud scheme
27/05/2010
A recent police investigation has uncovered a multi-million dollar identity fraud scheme.
A crime syndicate has been emptying out the accounts of superannuation fund members by initiating fund rollovers to fake self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
People have been advised to check their superannuation fund benefit statements twice a year, to take extra care to protect their PINs and passwords, and to be careful who they give their personal information to.
TOWER to amalgamate its superannuation funds
10/05/2010
TOWER Australia today announced it will amalgamate eight of their superannuation funds into one superannuation fund.
This move is a part of TOWER Australia’s ongoing simplification initiatives.
The newly amalgamated superannuation fund will be called ‘TOWER Master Fund’.
CONNECT and Cbus Industry Superannuation Funds in Merger Discussions
19/04/2010
Industry superannuation funds Cbus and CONNECT today announced a landmark in‐principle agreement to merge.
Superannuation Fund Chairmen Steve Bracks of Cbus and Mac Russell of CONNECT confirmed that a Heads of Agreement had been signed detailing the planned merger, and agreed to work towards a target merger date of 1 October 2010, subject to a due diligence process.
Superannuation losses due to extended maternity leave
19/04/2010
In a study conducted by Rice Warner Actuaries, women on average lose $45,200 in superannuation savings when taking five years off to raise children, or 26 per cent, less than an equivalent woman who stayed in the workforce until retirement.
These figures clearly show that women who take career breaks and choose to raise a family are disadvantaged when it comes to saving for their retirement. Women already face lower living standards in retirement because Australia's superannuation system is designed around the paid workforce.
How did your superannuation fare in 2009?
14/01/2010
A news article by the Herald Sun on 2 January 2010 discusses superannuation and how it has affected Australians.
The article states that people who were passive and stayed in the ‘default balanced investment option’ did well and clawed back a lot of the losses of 2008. Over the past seven years to the end of November the median growth option returned earnings in line with the more aggressive high growth option and ahead of the conservative option.
So for the actively engaged, the news is not so good. This mainly includes people who obsessed about their superannuation and changed out of growth and balanced investment options in 2008 and early 2009.
