The International Monetary Fund has singled out Australia’s fast-growing $3.9 trillion superannuation sector as a major risk to the financial system, warning it has become too easy for workers to rapidly shift their savings in and out of assets like private equity and private credit.

The warning is the second time in as many months the super sector has been labelled a risk to the financial system, after the Reserve Bank of Australia in September said super funds’ tendency to make investment decisions as a pack could amplify future market shocks.