Thirty years after they made superannuation compulsory, Paul Keating and Bill Kelty predict that Australia’s $3.3 trillion super system will mature into 10 mega funds each with $500 billion or so in assets that will dominate Australia’s financial system and seek a greater say in the governance of corporations.

“If we ended up with 10 funds with half a trillion each, this is better than having a fleet of 10 to 15 destroyers and two aircraft carriers in terms of real economic power,” Mr Keating said.