Wealth

Insights on wealth management, investments, and personal finance.

Wealth
Pension giant warns against using super as piggybank
Australia’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, has called on the Australian Government to build assets to sell to long-term investors but not to use the A$4.3 trillion (US$2.8 trillion) super industry as a ‘piggybank’. Chief Executive Paul Schroder said super could contribute to national renewal, but its potential to be an engine room of Australia’s sustained prosperity was unrealised. “This isn’t and can’t be about Government telling funds what to,” he said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra. “I’ve said this behind closed doors and in front of the cameras and I’ll say it again – it would be a disaster for members if governments tried to tell us what to invest in.” Treasurer Jim Chalmers has urged super funds to consider investing in nation-building projects like affordable housing and the energy transition, but funds have pushed back, arguing their obligation is to act in the best financial interests of members. AustralianSuper manages more than $385 billion for more than 3.5 million members. Schroder said the Government’s job was determining the direction of the country and the services and infrastructure that underpinned it while the job of super funds was to deploy capital into prod
Wealth
SUPER NATION: Finding a problem to fit a solution
Super Nation is a fortnightly column that examines, explains and analyses key issues in one of Australia's largest, fastest-growing and most important industries: superannuation. As the Australian Government moves forward with another review of the superannuation fund performance test, it raises an obvious question: what problem is it trying to fix? All MySuper default products passed the test the last two times the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) crunched the numbers on these custodians of more than A$1 billion (US$654 million) of Australians’ retirement funds. But Treasurer Jim Chalmers is prepared to consider tweaking the annual test, which was introduced in 2021 for MySuper products and 2023 for Trustee-Directed Products (TDPs), to compare their investment results and fees with benchmarks. Products that fail by underperforming by more than 0.50% per annum on the combined investment and fees test must notify members and, if they fall short for two successive years, they cannot accept new members. You could hardly wave a larger red flag warning Australians not to use these funds and to consider moving their money elsewhere. The scrutiny has been effective in one sense, with MySuper failures fa
Wealth
Colombia's richest citizens could face higher taxes
Colombia’s richest citizens are about to face a more than threefold increase in the top rate of wealth tax on their assets alongside higher levies on salaries and luxury goods. This comes as President Gustavo Petro attempts to raise 26.3 trillion pesos (US$6.5 billion) in one of the most ambitious attempts to boost revenue in recent years, with the finance ministry seeking to narrow the fiscal deficit and avoid spending cuts. "We are structuring a proposal that guarantees not only that we finance 2026, but that we are providing medium-term macroeconomic stability," Finance Minister German Avila told journalists, adding that the measures "will be of use to the next government". The tax bill sent to Congress on Monday proposed an increase in the wealth tax rate to 5% from 1.5% and would slash the threshold at which it becomes payable. The top marginal rate of income tax on individuals would rise from 39% to 41% and there would also be a boost in luxury goods like yachts. The bill also creates a 1% tax on oil and coal extraction and proposes a 30% tax on dividends received by non-residents. It also proposed that companies in the financial sector, like brokerages and insurance companies, pay a corporate tax of 50%. T
Wealth
ASIC expands super fund collapse litigation
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has moved to broaden legal action arising from the collapse of two investment funds, which cost Australians more than A$500 million of their retirement savings. ASIC sought leave from the Federal Court to expand its proceeding against former financial adviser Ferras Merhi, whose businesses allegedly advised clients to invest in the First Guardian Master Fund and Shield Master Fund. Merhi allegedly engaged in unconscionable conduct, failed to act in the client’s best interests, gave conflicted advice and provided defective statements of advice whilst receiving millions of dollars by using marketing companies to push clients to his businesses Venture Egg and Financial Services Group Australia (FSGA) (in liquidation). “This type of conduct doesn’t just undermine the integrity of the financial advice and superannuation industries, it can have a devastating impact on people’s lives,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in a media release. Between 2020 and 2024, Merhi and his advisers allegedly recommended advised clients to invest around $296 million of their superannuation into the First Guardian Master Fund and around $230 million into the Shield Master Fund. T
Wealth
Wild price swings mark ASX profit season - brokers
An increase in share price volatility was the stand-out feature of the Australian profit-reporting season, which had been the weakest for many years, according to stockbroking strategists. Morningstar equity strategist Lochlan Halloway said results had been progressing reasonably well up to 27 August, when the research firm had seen announcements from 151 of the Australian Securities Exchange-listed (ASX) companies it researched. Morningstar had raised fair valuations for 44% of these companies, slightly higher than in recent reporting seasons, and cut valuations for 14% of them, which was a meaningful increase but not inconsistent with recent reporting seasons. “Perhaps most remarkable is the big uptick in share price volatility,” Halloway wrote in a note. The standard deviation of price changes on results days had spiked from about 7% a week earlier, which at that time was well below the level seen during the February 2025 and August 2024 reporting seasons, to more than 10%. Although the results were disappointing, “the noise” was amplified by passive money and algorithmic traders, which was emblematic of market behaviour with earnings ‘beats’ and ‘misses’ generally met with a similar move in the share price. V

Wealth
Bond flash: DAX-listed Vonovia SE launches A$ bonds
With six to twelve-month term deposits from the big four banks now only averaging around 3% as the market braces for further rate cuts, there’s growing investor appetite for Australian dollar-denominated, investment-grade credit, which has shifted from yielding over 6% a few months ago, to currently offering 5%-6%. With this in mind, issuers are capitalising on growing local investor demand by continuing to bring new offerings to market. A BBB+ rated bond is preparing to launch with two tranches, a 7-year and a 10-year, with fixed coupons of around 5.3% and around 5.8% respectively. Securing an income from a quality issuer of over 5.5% should serve investors well in current market conditions, especially with these returns becoming increasingly difficult to achieve as rates continue falling. For this reason, the 10 year tranche is expected to be the most popular. The issuer is DAX-listed Vonovia SE - Europe’s largest private residential real estate company, headquartered in Bochum, Germany – which owns and manages a vast portfolio of over 565,000 residential units across Germany, Sweden, and Austria, with a total property value of approximately €97.8 billion (A$174.7 billion). This will be their first A$-denomin
Wealth
Platforms disappoint as most super funds pass test
Australian superannuation funds improved their performance in 2025 with no MySuper products or non-platform trustee-directed products (TDPs) failing the annual test, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). However, seven platform TDPs failed the test, APRA said in releasing the results of the 2025 performance test covering 563 superannuation products, which was the fourth year their long-term performance has been measured by the regulator. In fact some passed the test solely by offering members rebates, and more than 40% underperformed significantly. APRA said that in 2025:All 52 MySuper products passed the test (the same as in 2024) All 374 non-platform TDPs passed (the same) Seven of 137 platform TDPs failed (37 in 2024)The performance test applies to the default MySuper and trustee-directed products and represents 62% by value of the APRA-regulated superannuation sector, which was valued at $3.0395 trillion (US$1.97 trillion) at 30 June 2025. Deputy Chair Margaret Cole said the test showed improvements but reminded trustees to act in their members’ best financial interests and ensure their products delivered genuine value. “Since the introduction of the performance test in 2021, AP
Wealth
BlackRock warns against politicising pension funds
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has pushed back against political scrutiny from both Republican and Democratic officials, arguing that pension fund management should not be driven by politics but by fiduciary duty to clients. In a memo sent to 43 state treasurers, auditors and other officials from both major parties, the firm criticised what it described as increasing political interference. The memo, reviewed by Reuters, underscored BlackRock’s longstanding position but marked a rare direct address to such a broad group of policymakers. The move follows a July letter signed by 26 Republican officials questioning whether BlackRock prioritises issues such as climate change over financial performance. In response, 17 Democratic officials sent their own letter earlier this month, calling climate change one of the “unmanaged risks” that investors must pay more attention to. S. Jane Moffat, BlackRock’s head of state and local government affairs, told the officials that their interventions “continue a concerning trend by both parties of politicizing the management of public pension funds”. She pointed to BlackRock’s proxy voting policies, noting that clients appreciate its role as an engaged shareholder.
Wealth
Australian super assets hit record $4.3 trillion
The value of Australian superannuation funds rose by 4.8% in the three months ended 30 June 2025 to a record A$4.3 trillion (US$2.8 trillion), according to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). APRA was releasing its Quarterly Superannuation Performance publication and the Quarterly MySuper Statistics report for the June 2025 quarter, which showed the sector had assets of $4.3391 trillion at 30 June compared with $4.131 trillion at 31 March and $3.943 trillion at 30 June 2024. The regulator said in a statement that the 9.8% increase in assets in the year ended 30 June was driven by an 11.7% rise in APRA-regulated assets to $3.040 trillion, with self-managed superannuation (SMSF) assets rising 5.5% to $997 billion.Source: APRAAmong the APRA-regulated assets, retail funds showed the most growth in assets in the June quarter, rising 6.3%, outpacing industry funds (5.6%), public sector (2.7%) and corporate funds (0.8%). But over 12 months, industry funds outpaced the others with growth of 14.8% compared with retail (12.2%), public sector (6.1%) and corporate (-20.7%). Total contributions increased by 14.1% to $210.2 billion in the year ending 30 June, of which employer contributions rose 10.1% to