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Lucas Baird

This Month

An Australia Post office in Bourke Street, Melbourne, was burgled on four occasions.

Post office burglaries spark super fund security alert

Mercer Super has written to members after letters were stolen from its post box during a break-in at Australia Post’s Melbourne GPO.

The Macquarie Group Ltd. logo atop the company’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

Macquarie among super platforms urged to pay up for $1b collapse

Insignia boss Scott Hartley says financial advisers should not foot the compensation bill following the collapse of First Guardian and Shield Master Trust.

Insignia Financial CEO Scott Hartley.

Insignia undervalued by public markets, says CEO after $3.2b takeover

All-cash private equity deal will put an end to the uncertainty that has hung over the 180-year-old wealth management giant amid a protracted takeover tussle.

CPA Australia superannaution lead Richard Webb said, with financial advice more expensive and difficult to obtain, people were prone to gambling their retirement savings.

AMP boss urges platforms to ditch ‘bad apples’ after $1b failure

CEO Alexis George says the recent failure of two investment schemes was “horrific for the industry and horrific for the community”.

Tuong Lai Restaurant owner Bic Nguyen. The restaurant, in Sydney’s Cabramatta, prefers cash over card.

Tap and go? Credit cards? In these suburbs, cash is still king

More than 1 million people use banknotes and coins for their everyday payments, even as regulators and banks prepare for the day the country goes cashless.

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The CSLR is designed to compensate victims of financial misconduct when the financial firm behind a claim has gone out of business or cannot pay up.

Victims of collapsed First Guardian, Shield may lose more than $700m

The corporate regulator is investigating whether thousands of workers were funnelled into high-risk investments. Compensation could top out at $300 million.

NAB board backs CEO Irvine as investors demand ‘please explain’

The bank’s shareholders say directors must clarify discussions with the executive, warning there was a “lack of confidence in the investing public”.

Former treasurer and Cbus chairman Wayne Swan said last month super funds “must now pivot to help Australians wisely manage their retirement savings”.

‘We need to get there faster’: funds race to create retiree products

Andrew Howard, head of strategy at MLC-owner Insignia, says big funds must quickly shift their priorities from accumulating wealth to drawing it down.

The number of pre-retirees who plan to reinvest their savings outside a super fund had nearly doubled.

Big super misfire prompts high-risk retirement gambles, falling trust

Workers say they need nearly $1 million to retire comfortably, but fewer than one in three say they are prepared for this phase of their lives, a review shows.

Pearce argued the Commonwealth Bank’s share price was “silly” as it readied to open at $180.37 on Friday morning.

CBA’s ‘silly’ price catches investors in resources bind: UniSuper

John Pearce says Australian investors are stuck in the unenviable position of putting money into overvalued banks or betting on a rebound in the Chinese economy.

John Pearce says the best investments are often made in the most difficult conditions.

‘We’re losing companies offshore’: ASX dual-class shares bid finds backer

UniSuper’s chief investment officer said the right safeguards were needed, but investors should have an “open mind” to the changes.

The ASX had told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission earlier this year it was “out of step with other major markets by not allowing dual-class shares”.

Major funds at odds over ASX’s hopes for dual-class share schemes

Some investors say allowing founders a powerful say over their companies after a listing makes a lot of sense; others see a governance disaster in waiting.

Evans claimed she made four complaints over the next year about how she was struggling with her mental health after the sexual harassment.

Senior superannuation fund manager allegedly sexually harassed staff

An employee at a multibillion-dollar Australian pension investment firm allegedly made repeated unwelcome advances towards several colleagues.

Vanguard Super CIO Duncan Burns said “equities have had a great run” over the last three years; however, he said valuations were “stretched” and liable to fall.

Two retail super funds outperformed many larger industry rivals

Booming equity markets have boosted two of the biggest retail superannuation funds to return rates nearing 13 per cent over the past financial year.

Macquarie Centre is one of Sydney’s biggest retail precincts and is worth $1.7 billion. It is half owned by UniSuper and Cbus Property, the real estate arm of the eponymous industry superannuation fund, with the remaining stake owned by a wholesale fund operated by Dexus.

Dexus sues AMP after losing stake in $1.8b Macquarie Centre

The ASX-listed property giant was forced to sell its stake in one of Sydney’s biggest shopping malls. Now it’s calling on an indemnity clause to cover its losses.

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ASIC deputy chairwoman Sarah Court said “the business practices that we are seeing are on an industrial scale”.

‘Red alert’ for dodgy advisers pushing risky super schemes

Deputy chairwoman Sarah Court says ASIC is already investigating two big platform trustees for failing to protect consumers from high-risk investments.

ART chief investment officer Ian Patrick.

Super giant turns to Japan amid Trump trade fears

The country’s second-biggest superannuation fund is investing more heavily in Japan at the expense of local shares and the US.

June

The markets have had a good year despite the turmoil, with the ASX 200 up around 10 per cent.

The ASX’s bumper year makes for bullish investors (despite the chaos)

The local sharemarket has closed 10 per cent higher for the year, its best performance since the pandemic rebound in 2021. Fund managers are hoping for more.

Wayne Swan calls for super ‘armistice’ at 12pc

The former treasurer said a super guarantee at 12 per cent of a worker’s earnings “provides adequate retirement savings for most”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and President Donald Trump

Super funds cautious on US despite Trump plans to drop ‘revenge tax’

The threat of punitive taxes on super funds in the US may have eased, but they’re still taking a cautious approach to investments in Trump’s America.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/lucas-baird-h18hts