SMC says early access would leave retirees poorer
Super Members Council has rejected calls to use Australians’ superannuation savings for broader policy goals, arguing retirement money must be invested only in members’ best financial interests.
The industry body was responding to comments it attributed to Trade Minister Don Farrell that super savings should be invested in American meat-processing facilities to try to avert lamb tariffs.
According to Super Members Council, Australians’ retirement savings should go only to investments that can deliver the strongest possible long-term risk-adjusted returns. Super funds make those decisions independently of governments, the body said.
Misha Schubert attacks policy use of super
Chief executive Misha Schubert described the comments as “ill-informed and ill-advised”. She said funds invest independently of governments because they must act only in members’ best financial interests.
In the past month, Super Members Council has also criticised proposals from politicians to let people access super early. The body argued those policies would lift inflation, increase interest rates and leave Australians poorer in retirement.
Schubert said: “Comments like these are ill-informed and ill-advised.” She added that super funds “invest only in the best financial interests of their members”.
Australian super funds assess investment deals to grow the retirement savings of millions of everyday Australians, according to the council. The group said working Australians rely on those savings to retire with income from super.
Meanwhile, the council argued policymakers have a duty to keep the system strong and maintain trust in it. Millions of working Australians across the country depend on those retirement incomes, it said.
Super Members Council also argued that the role of super is to deliver the strongest possible investment returns for members, not to solve unrelated policy problems. The group said that principle should not change.
