ASFA has listed the ways in which super funds have supported infrastructure across transport and energy, as well as property and healthcare assets, in a new report titled The role of the superannuation industry in supporting the Australian economy.
According to the industry body, around 20 per cent of all APRA-regulated fund assets, or $349 billion, is invested in unlisted equity, unlisted property, infrastructure or other alternate assets.
ASFA deputy chief executive Glen McCrea said superannuation has already played a role in helping people through the COVID-19 crisis.
“Superannuation underpins our economy, investing heavily in productivity-boosting assets that are essential as we navigate out of this economic crisis,” Mr McCrea said.
The report stated super funds will be a “key source of patient capital for a range of asset classes that are crucial for Australia’s long-term productivity performance, such as infrastructure assets and investments in private equity and venture capital enterprises”.
It added without the industry, some projects may not have the backing to go ahead, without the ability to offer higher rates of return to attract funding.
ASFA has released the report as a number of Liberal MPs and senators, including Tim Wilson, James Paterson and Andrew Bragg, have called for a stop to the legislated super guarantee rise next year to 10 per cent, instead freezing the mandatory contribution at its current 9.5 per cent.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently flagged the possibility of freezing the increase, after RBA governor Philip Lowe declared higher superannuation would hit wage growth.
“The challenge we face is that there is a range of self-interest groups who are obsessed with dismantling superannuation on ideological grounds, thereby shrinking the economy – despite the evidence that Australia’s retirement system is the envy of the modern world,” Mr McCrea said.
“The key objective of super will always be to provide dignity in retirement – an objective it’s well on its way to achieving in the 30 years since it was introduced – but let’s not overlook the significant investment it makes in our economy.
“We need to allow superannuation to help Australia out of this crisis; don’t let anti-retirement groups shrink people’s future and our fragile economy.”
