Superannuation fund trustees are finding it hard to strike a balance between addressing the changing agendas of regulators and keeping costs reasonable for members, Media Super general manager of administration and compliance Michael Rooney told the Investor Weekly custody roundtable.
"Sometimes it is questionable whether some changes actually have real cost benefits for members or not," Rooney said.
According to Rooney, funds are spending up to $300,000 to meet new obligations, with members often footing the bill.
"That's a lot of money coming out of members' pockets on a regular basis to meet new obligations. And that's our biggest pressure. We did some analysis before our merger and that is where our price is increasing," Rooney said.
"So our cost to members has been increasing over the last three or four years and it's all been regulatory and its not services to members ... I think most funds would feel that."
Asset Super chief executive John Paul told the roundtable that he had noticed a similar trend.
"I don't think the regulators are concerned with the costs of risk. Any time you talk to them they just want to make sure you've got the risk nailed ... You've got the risk nailed and they're happy," Paul said.
The Australian Meat Industry Superannuation Trust Super (AMIST Super) head of operations Jack Sullivan said federal politicians are worried about cost, but they continue to add more layers of regulations.
"And that's the whole point," Rooney said. "They keep going out to market saying how they're going to cut costs, but every time they change regulation it adds a new cost on."
