I recently joined Sarah Penn and Neil Benson on episode 22 of That Super Show to talk about measuring retirement outcomes, and what Treasury's best practice principles mean for trustees in practice.
A few of the threads we pulled on:
- The principles are non-binding by design, which leaves room for market-led solutions but puts the onus back on trustees to show their strategy is working.
- Measurement has to rest on objective, evidence-based data rather than subjective assessment. If you can't evidence the outcome, you can't defend the strategy.
- Cohorting is where most funds are landing – typically life stage and balance, sometimes with deeper demographic work to sharpen Age Pension estimates. The constraint is data: homeownership and relationship status are the fields funds most often don't hold.
- Minimum-only drawdowns remain the default behaviour, driven by uncertainty rather than preference, and early retirement is exactly where more confident spending should be encouraged.
- Lifetime income products solve real longevity risk but still see low uptake. Positioning them as a component of a solution, rather than a standalone product decision, is more likely to shift the needle.
- The asset-rich, income-poor problem is unresolved, and equity release deserves a place in the conversation.
Thanks to Sarah and Neil for having me on. The full episode is available on the That Super Show website.