VISION SUPER has been named the winner of the inaugural Money Magazine award for Cheapest Superannuation Platform.

Money Magazine described the fund as a “standout when it comes to price”. The average industry fund charges more than double Vision Personal’s total management fee of 0.49 percent.

Vision Super chief executive officer Stephen Rowe said the result was pleasing, but not surprising.

“Our focus at Vision Super is always on the best interests of our members – and that includes a focus on keeping our costs low so members get more in their accounts,” Mr Rowe said.

“We started the Vision Personal–Sustainable balanced option to give people who wanted to invest sustainably a better option, at a much lower cost than similar retail fund offerings. It’s low cost, and it’s low carbon.

“Australians are getting a lot more informed and savvy about where their super is invested – particularly since the Royal Commission.

“Gone are the days when funds could sell members high-cost products – the choice market is growing, and Vision Super is out there offering a product that’s been recognised as the lowest cost in the country," Mr Rowe said.

“We also have a focus on strong risk-adjusted returns, and the results are exceptional – as at October 31, Vision Personal–Sustainable balanced has top quartile returns of 12.66 percent over one year, and above median returns of 9.36 percent over three years.

“Membership of Vision Personal has been growing strongly as a result –157.5 percent membership growth and 48.9 percent asset growth over the three years to June 30.

“Our members have joined us because we offer outstanding value and a sustainable approach – and we’re delighted that Money Magazine has recognised Vision Super’s value through this Gold award.”

www.visionsuper.com.au

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell said she believes high growth small and medium-sized businesses will get the boost they need from the new $520 million Australian Business Growth Fund. It is backed by the big four banks and the Federal Government.

The fund will invest capital to buy between 10 and 40 percent equity in high growth SMEs with annual turnovers of between $2 million and $50 million. The model is to give scale-ups the funding they need while not havign the fund control the business.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has confirmed ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac will each commit $100 million to the fund, while HSBC will contribute $20 million. The Federal Government has pledged $100 million. 

“We welcome both the government investment in the fund, which has now been matched by the major banks," Ms Carnell said.

“The Australian Business Growth Fund was a recommendation in our Affordable Capital for SME Growth report, which identified the need to address a critical funding gap for long-term capital to enable high growth potential SMEs to flourish.

“This fund will benefit high growth SMEs with annual turnovers of between $2 million and $50 million," she said.

“Importantly the fund will be managed by private sector expertise and will invest between 10 percent and 40 percent in the chosen businesses, allowing the business owner to maintain their controlling interest, while giving them the funds they need to invest in growth.

“Similar models in the UK and Canada have proven successful, giving businesses the chance to thrive with much-needed access to affordable capital.

“We also support the government’s ongoing discussions with other financial institutions that are considering investing in the fund," Ms Carnell said.

“This initiative comes at a time when many respected economists, including those at the RBA, are publicly recognising one of the biggest barriers to growth for SMEs is access to affordable capital and this has been a critical factor holding the economy back. 

“The Australian Business Growth Fund will significantly encourage business growth and promote economic expansion.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has released a new discussion paper titled Evolution of Advice: The Financial Planning Profession from 2020 to 2025, and opened consultation on its proposed new pol icy platform.

The paper considers the major issues that will affect the profession over the next five years, including the affordability of advice, how financial planners interact with their clients, and the health of the profession.

FPA members will be asked to contribute their views over the next four weeks via the new FPA Community online forum, and their feedback will form the basis of the Association’s new policy initiatives for the next five years.

Dante De Gori CFP CEO of the FPA, said, “The FPA has a proud history of advocating for reforms that advance the financial planning profession, including education standards, ethics and professionalism.

“Back in 2014, the FPA released a landmark white paper on the future of the financial planning profession, providing a vision for elevating the profession and building consumer trust. In that paper, 10 key milestones were identified. The FPA’s advocacy since that time has resulted in nine of those 10 points being adopted – a proud achievement.

“Now we must look to the future and evolve our vision for the financial planning profession over the next five years. Feedback from members will underpin our policy and advocacy work so that we can promote new reforms that will benefit Australian consumers and financial planners alike.

“While the profession is going through a period of rapid change, Australians’ demand for high quality, independent and affordable financial advice remains undiminished. The FPA’s policy platform provides an opportunity for us to lead the conversation about the future of financial advice in this country and how we can better serve Australian consumers,” Mr De Gori said.

FPA members are encouraged to contribute their views by responding to a series of questions posed in FPA Community, which will be available in early December 2019.

The FPA is also presenting a webinar to its members on Tuesday December 3 at 1- 2pm AEST to walk through the details of the discussion paper including the current and emerging issues in financial planning and how these will be reflected in FPA’s new policy platform. The FPA expects to release its new policy platform in 2020.

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CONSTRUCTION activity continues to sink lower with few signs yet that new infrastructure projects are coming to life on the ground, according to Master Builders Australia’s chief economist Shane Garrett.

"The ABS figures out today indicate that the volume of construction work done during the September 2019 quarter slipped by 0.4 percent compared with the June 2019 quarter," Mr Garrett said. “During the most recent quarter, the volume of construction work actually done was the weakest since the end of 2016. Compared with this time last year, activity is down 7 percent.

“The results are particularly disappointing on the engineering and civil construction side of the market where the volume of work done has dropped by 9.6 percent over the past year. This is the side of the construction industry where the portfolio of new infrastructure projects should be showing up,” he said.

“We should be in the early stage of an infrastructure construction boom but we are not there yet. We need state and territory governments to work with their federal counterparts to get construction activity moving on the ground,” Mr Garrett said. 

“The new data mean that the risk of an economic growth vacuum is getting bigger. Everything must be done to lift short-term demand across the economy - and accelerating the roll out of government-led infrastructure projects is the best way.

“As the Governor of the Reserve Bank pointed out just last evening, monetary policy has its limitations with respect to promoting growth – including the reality that interest rate cuts can take many months to work their full benefits through the economy,” Mr Garrett said. 

“Increasing government spending and accelerating the pace of project work would offer a very immediate way out of the current growth impasse.”

During the September 2019 quarter, six of the eight states and territories experienced falls in construction activity. 

Expansions occurred in Tasmania (+10.0%) followed by Victoria (+3.5%). 

During the September 2019 quarter, the largest reduction in construction work hit South Australia (-5.0%) followed by Western Australia (-3.8%) and the Northern Territory (-3.1%).

The declines in construction activity were a bit more measured in Queensland (-2.1%), the ACT (-0.9%) and New South Wales (-0.5%).

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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