Predications of a drop off in inflows after June’s superannuation stampede have been proved wrong, with the usually slower September quarter breaking new inflow records.
Fresh figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show super money accounted for $13.8 billion in retirement benefit schemes within life insurers during the third quarter of last year.
This was a decline of only 1.2 per cent on June’s record quarter and an escalation of 72.4 per cent on September 2006.
Super business in the September quarter was almost level with a “really busy June” and would continue rising, Aviva Australia general manager of marketing and public relations Tim Cobb said.
“Some super changes still came through in September but we still believe the momentum in super is going to be more buoyant going forward. The fourth quarter is going to be buoyant and so is 2008,” Cobb said.
“There are still a lot of people who have significant amounts of money which they can put into super.”
Retirement savers sought to cash in on the former government’s super reform package before June 30 but did not stop there, getting in before changes to the pensions asset test on September 20.
Over 90 per cent of assets held by life insurance companies is now super money, compared to 60 per cent two decades ago when non-super assets such as investment bonds comprised 40 per cent of total life office assets.
The rise of retail platforms and investment vehicles has almost halved the share of Australia’s $1.1 trillion in super money held within life offices during this period.
At the end of September life offices held a 19.3 per cent share of total super assets, compared to 36.9 per cent in 1988.
Retail funds hold around a third of total assets, followed by self-managed super funds.
