The latest Retirement Income Covenant pulse check has just been released by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and ASIC and, although there is the expected message that there is still so much to be done by RSEs, a small nugget gives us some reasons to be quite positive:
- Moneysmart updates: There is great material on the Moneysmart website for retirees and pre-retirees, and it gets great usage. I'm excited to see what the team over there comes up with next.
- The Best Practice Principles: This has the potential to lay the groundwork for trustee-designed retirement pre-sets or defaults, where different product building blocks (and the Age Pension) are brought together in a purposeful way to meet the needs of individual members or cohorts.
- Retirement Reporting Framework: We have already seen in recent times how privately-developed scoring systems can grab the attention of funds seeking to come out on top (or at least not be seen as laggards). Watch this go into overdrive with a transparent reporting framework that's overseen by APRA.
- Resolution of DBFO Tranche "2b": Many see this as the final missing puzzle piece that will unlock digital advice at scale for retirement.
These items, working in tandem, have the potential to meaningfully transform the retirement propositions of our super funds and, in turn, uplift retirement outcomes for Australians. The stars are (albeit slowly) starting to align, and once they do, things can move very quickly.