Super giant’s six-year secret: ASIC says AustralianSuper pocketed $69m in extra fees
Australia’s biggest superannuation fund has been hit with court action following claims it failed to deal with members who had mulitple accounts and were paying extra fees of about $69 million.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Deputy Chair Sarah Court speaks during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra.(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
About 90,000 people were affected by AustralianSuper’s alleged failure, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
It alleged that over a 10-year period, the fund failed to have adequate policies and procedures to indentify members who help multiple accounts.
Funds are obliged to notify members with multiple accounts and to consolidate them so people were not paying extra fees. About 3 million Australians were thought to have multiple accounts and many are held within the same fund.
“ASIC is concerned that despite AustralianSuper allegedly being made aware in 2018 of the number of multiple member accounts within the fund and possible gaps in its policies and procedures, it did not take adequate steps to investigate and resolve the issue until late 2021 and early 2022,” ASIC said.
Deputy chair Sarah Court said failing to merge multiple accounts could have significant financial consequences for members who end up paying multiple sets of fees, eroding their superannuation balance over time.
“ASIC expects that superannuation funds will put their members first and promptly address issues that cause members to face multiple sets of fees and insurance premiums.
“We expect these issues to be identified and rectified quickly, including compensations members if a trustee has failed to comply with its obligations.”
