The federal government is likely to introduce a mandatory code of conduct for trustees of superannuation funds as part of the Stronger Super reforms, according to Stronger Super Peak Consultative Group chair Paul Costello.
"The government quite clearly accepted that there is room for making the governance of funds more accountable and efficient," Costello said.
"There is some variety of views around that: whether they should be voluntary reflecting the different conditions that exist in each fund or whether that should be mandatory or a combination of both.
"Certainly, I think the regulators will prefer some form of mandated code, accepting that there might be some aspects that sit alongside that, rather than more of a voluntary code. That is a key outcome that does need to be delivered as part of this process."
There are currently a number of governance codes in existence and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) launched governance guidelines for not-for-profit funds yesterday.
But Costello said the government would like to see a universal code that applied to all trustee boards.
"I think it is quite clear that we are being asked to produce a universal code that will apply across the sector," he said.
He said the Stronger Super report already indicated a number of areas that would need to be addressed by the code, including the different obligations of the chair as opposed to those of other directors, the need for boards to think about their optimum size, the appropriate tenure of directors and what individual skill set directors should have.
"It does recommend that the board does an annual review of their performance and meet the objectives that they've set for the people whose money they manage," he said.
"The government has made it clear that it does expect best practice and development from superannuation funds. Surely governance is a combination of the right degree of alignment between the people managing the money, the people responsible for overseeing the management of members' money and the interest of those whose money we manage."
He said the government was committed to raising the superannuation guarantee from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, but that would need to be accompanied by improvements to the superannuation system, of which a governance code was part.
It was likely the legislation of MySuper would come through later this year, he said.
He said he rejected the idea MySuper put too much emphasis on costs.
"It is important to look further here. It is about value for members. It is not about delivering a lowest cost product. That is inconsistent with the concept of value for money," he said.
