The phrase that may have summed up day one of the royal commission's round on superannuation came from counsel assisting Michael Hodge QC: "I hope that's clear as mud."

The baby-faced assassin of the commission's legal team had just led Paul Carter, an executive from NAB's wealth arm MLC, through a detailed scene-setter on how the forest of funds within MLC worked, and how fees where set and charged inside those funds.