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Published: 28 Sep 2015
By now you’ll know that woman with the wavy hair - and that smile - who makes the Industry SuperFund thing with her hands when the banker asks about her super.
Like plenty of us, the woman – let’s call her Alison – is being pressed by her bank to set up a super account with them. And like plenty of us, she’s let her bank know they’re not getting their hands on her super. Alison’s with an Industry SuperFund. Yes, one of those.
It only struck me recently that I’ve not had one person ask me what she means by that. The jury’s in. People know they need banks for many things, but not for their super.
We’ve come a long way. Perhaps it’s our bigger account balances. They’re harder to ignore. Or a rough guesstimate about what we’ll need to get to the bottom of our bucket list.
But here’s a thing. Letting the banks know it’s not about them is all good, but with most of us still going with the super fund our boss has in place at work (the default fund), the boss needs to know too.
It won’t come as any surprise that banks are onto this.
Just like phone and energy companies, banks are out there offering ‘bundled deals’ for their business customers. Quietly switching the workplace super to the bank’s super fund might even get the boss a discount on some insurance or a loan, and to boot it might go un-noticed by the staff.
I get that bosses are busy keeping their business rolling and that their bank is looking out for them. But the banks are not looking out for employees, especially when it comes to super.
When it comes to choosing a default fund, plenty of people rely on the boss to look out for them - choosing a fund with low fees, no commissions and a strong performance history. A fund run to benefit employees - not the banks’ bottom line.
That’s why we’re taking super back to work. To remind the boss and ourselves that banks are many things, but they’re not super. Like Alison, I’m figuring there’ll be plenty of bosses letting their bank know that they’re sticking with an Industry SuperFund. Yes, one of those.
*The above material, whilst correct at the time of publication may include references or statements which are no longer current.