INDUSTRY super fund, Vision Super, announced today they have hit $10 billion in funds under management.

Vision Super CEO Stephen Rowe said that while it was nice to achieve milestones, the number wasn’t really the focus.

“We’ve doubled our funds under management, from $5 billion to $10 billion in just five years, through organic growth and strong returns,” Mr Rowe said. “We’ve achieved this at the same time as paying out $1.25 billion worth of lifetime pensions and defined benefit lump sums to our retiring members.

“Hitting $10 billion is testament to the hard work and principled approach of our Investment team and our growth team, but it’s really just another number – what we’re focused on is returns for Vision Super’s members.

“Our default Balanced growth option has top quartile returns over the medium-term and has beaten the median over one, three, five and seven years – those are the really important numbers that mean more money in members’ accounts when they retire.

“Our members trust us to with the incredibly important role of looking after their retirement savings – and that trust is reflected in strong contributions and roll ins, which have contributed to us achieving $10 billion.

"We’re looking to grow significantly over the next few years - $10 billion is a nice milestone, but I’m hoping we hit some even bigger ones in the near future.”

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“THE PROPOSAL by the Labor Party to increase capital gains tax by 50 percent is an unjustified slug on retirees who have invested in growth assets to fund their living expenses,” said Mr Strandquist, acting president of the Association of Independent Retirees.

“Self-funded retirees rely solely on returns from their investments to provide income to live. These returns can come from interest, share dividends, franking credits, property rents and the sale of investment assets,” said Mr Strandquist.

He said when retirees sell shares or other growth assets, the discounted net capital gains are added to their income for the year in which they sold the investment. They pay tax on this income for the year even though the capital growth of the assets may have been realised over 20 years or more.

“The Labor Party’s proposal to increase tax on capital gains by 50 percent will mean a substantial reduction in the investment returns for retirees who have saved their entire working lives so that they don’t have to rely solely on the government aged pension,” Mr Strandquist said.

The purchase and sale of assets is an important process for retirees, he said, as most investment strategies rely on adjusting portfolios to minimise risk and maximise the growth of investments. In addition, during the retirement years, it is necessary to sell down assets such as shares and property to provide income for living expenses and to fund aged care accommodation.

“Unlike the loss of franking credit refunds, there will be no pensioner exemption for the 50 percent hike in capital gains tax. All individual investors who purchase investment assets like shares and property after January 1, 2020 will pay 50 percent more tax on their future capital gains,” Mr Strandquist said.

“Together with the loss of franking credits refunds, no negative gearing for pre-owned properties and other proposed tax changes, it is clear that the Labor Party thinks retirees are a soft target. But, with the increase in capital gains tax, retirees won’t be the only group funding the many spending initiatives the Labor Party has announced,” Mr Strandquist said.

www.independentretirees.com.au

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IN THE WAKE of the Hayne Recommendations, the Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA) is hosting 250 delegates from some of Australia’s leading businesses at its inaugural conference from April 30 to May 1, to discuss how to rebuild trust in corporate Australia.

GCNA executive director Kylie Porter said the expectation for leadership has shifted away from government institutions to business, and more specifically business leaders.

“It is crucial that businesses come together to discuss how they will demonstrate that they have a social licence to operate while simultaneously acting in the best interest of their shareholders,” she said.

“At the conference we will discuss how companies have the opportunity to rebuild trust through sustainable and responsible business practices, and how businesses can shift their culture to be one founded on ethics and purpose over profit.”

Participants will hear from renowned speakers including Gillian Triggs (former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission), Professor John Ruggie (former special adviser to UN General Secretary Kofi Annan and author of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights) and Emmanuel Lulin (chief ethics officer of L’Oreal).

The speakers will address the need for business leaders to speak out on social and environmental issues and challenge existing business norms; rebuilding trust through a human rights lens and the social component of ESG; and what the ethics revolution means for businesses in Australia and globally.

Trust will also be explored through the lens of businesses becoming leading authorities on policy debates, such as anti-corruption regulation and climate change, and on topics such as trust in digital technology, the role of the circular economy and the power of Indigenous reconciliation.

“Australian corporates need to demonstrate how they are shifting their focus to building robust cultures that drive purpose and enable organisations to thrive. We hope that the GCNA’s conference will allow business leaders to understand what levers they can pull to balance the pillars of responsible business and ethics with the expectations of profit to regain trust in corporate Australia,” said David Cooke, chair of the GCNA.

Venue: The Arts Centre, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

Date: 12pm on April 30 to 5.30pm on May 1, 2019.

http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/2019conference

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THE employer and employee representatives for Queensland mine workers have called on former Greens leader Bob Brown to immediately repudiate reported claims from supporters of his anti-jobs tour that liken coal industry jobs to Nazis working in gas chambers during the Holocaust.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane and CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland district president Stephen Smyth said the reported comments were a shocking attack on hard-working Queenslanders and their families.

“These Queenslanders work in skilled jobs to keep both the Queensland and Australian economies strong,” Mr Macfarlane said. 

"Their work supports local jobs, boosts exports, pays royalty taxes for the Queensland Government to reinvest in schools and hospitals, and stimulates company taxes that the Australian Government can spend across the nation including Mr Brown’s home state of Tasmania,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“I cannot think of a more offensive comment for one Australian to call another. Bob Brown needs to repudiate this rubbish -- Brown needs to stick to the facts, and drop the disgusting attacks.”

Mr Smyth said the Bob Brown anti-job convoy had already demonstrated hypocrisy with the vehicles dependent on steel made from metallurgical coal and electric vehicles powered by thermal coal generated through Queensland Government-owned efficient generators.

“On behalf of those men and women working in our coal industry, Bob Brown should apologise for the attack on them by his supporters. Bob Brown is stirring up hysteria and these claims that jobs in Queensland coal mines are like Nazi gas chambers in World War Two are the bottom of the barrel," Mr Smyth said.

"As Mr Brown rallies against jobs in Brisbane, the economic contribution of the resources sector to both the capital region and regional economies is very significant," Mr Macfarlane said.

www.qrc.org.au

www.cfmeuqld.asn.au

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