Superannuation

Vanguard Australia recently launched a superannuation product aimed at undercutting competitors, with a low-cost default fund option that adjusts automatically as savers age.

Australians should be putting more money into superannuation and diversifying out of property, some say, even as super performance remains a question mark.

There are a range of factors that will determine the fees a member will pay. The difference could have a dramatic effect on the final balance of a retiree’s nest egg.

Funds have adapted to the test’s metrics, but the consequent risk aversion could put the industry in “limp mode” and curb performance.

Overseas, Australia’s biggest super fund is a small fish in a massive pond. To achieve the scale it wants it will have to dive deeper into the private markets, meeting stiff competition from its North American peers along the way.