Posts tagged jonathan steffanoni
Greenwashing | taking a peek beneath the green sheen
Greenwashing | taking a peek beneath the green sheen

The risks of greenwashing are becoming increasingly prevalent and appropriate management of these risks requires input, commitment and training across all areas of a trustee’s operations.

An understanding of how sustainability and responsible investing has been incorporated into the trustee’s investment decision making is a basic requirement for all staff to ensure any representation made is clear and accurate. Penalties for non-compliance are considerable and even a sniff of greenwashing brings about significant media scrutiny and associated costs to the trustee, both financial and reputational.

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Legislation, regulation, risk, superannuationRutu Sangamjonathan steffanoni, financial best interests duty, legal advice, parliament, law, productivity commission, hayne royal commission, covenant, superannuation, Vice Chancellor Robert Megarry, your future your super, regulation, government, sole purpose test, legalComment
Weighing The Importance Of ‘Financial’ In Best Financial Interest Duty
Weighing The Importance Of ‘Financial’ In Best Financial Interest Duty

The best interests duty is in many ways the cornerstone to the regulation of the superannuation system and has been the most important guiding principle for Australia’s superannuation industry.

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Legislation, regulation, risk, superannuationGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, financial best interests duty, legal advice, parliament, law, productivity commission, hayne royal commission, covenant, superannuation, Vice Chancellor Robert Megarry, your future your super, regulation, government, sole purpose test, legalComment
COVID-19 Impact To Superannuation Trustees And Members - Economic Survival
COVID-19 Impact To Superannuation Trustees And Members - Economic Survival

This article shares initial thoughts on what superannuation trustees should be thinking about, and what they might be able to do to best position themselves to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic (and related economic carnage) with compassion, prudence, and a sense of purpose.

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legal, regulation, superannuation, riskGuest Usercovid, covid-19, superannuation, package, economic survival, trustees, jonathan steffanoni, qmv legal, members, compassionate grounds, unemployed, 10000, ato, mygov, pensioners, relief, parliament, apra, financial advice, death benefits, orfr, Operational Risk Financial Requirement, australian, legal
Super Ruling Poised To Set Climate Risk Precedent
Super Ruling Poised To Set Climate Risk Precedent

Trustees of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and self-managed superannuation funds alike should pay close attention to the upcoming case of McVeigh v REST, and the possibilities of either setting a precedent requiring consideration of climate change as a material investment risk or highlighting the need for more specific climate change risk focused regulation.

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superannuation, risk, regulationGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, mcveigh v rest, climate, superannuation, law, superannuation law, responsible investing, ethics, trustee, climate change, financial performance, apra, parliament, qmv legal, legal
On Superannuation Guarantee
On Superannuation Guarantee

Australia’s superannuation guarantee policy is popular, economically prudent, and coming under increasing political scrutiny. It has been very effective in extending coverage of the superannuation system beyond the public sector and senior management of large companies to most working Australians.

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regulation, superannuationGuest Userlegal, jonathan steffanoni, superannuation guarantee, grattan institute, australia, asfa, sg, act, fair work commission, qmv, qmv legal, 12%
QMV Hosts Trivia Night To Raise Funds For The Flemington Homework Club
QMV Hosts Trivia Night To Raise Funds For The Flemington Homework Club

QMV’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) group held the annual trivia night last Friday evening to raise funds for The Flemington Homework Club. CSR Chair, David Mehmed would like to extend appreciation to everyone who took part. We raised $6,829 for this worthy cause and it would not have been possible without the generosity and intellectual horsepower of our guests! 

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events, qmv newsGuest Userflemington homework club, trivia, corporate social responsibility, jonathan steffanoni, TelstraSuper, NAB, Plum, UniSuper, JBWere, MLC
The Hayne Super. Recommendations
The Hayne Super. Recommendations

The Hayne Royal Commission’s superannuation related recommendations are first and foremost focused on promoting changes to the ways in which superannuation trustees deal with conflicts of interest and raising the standard of care which trustees adopt in managing members retirement savings. It is unsurprising that these two themes are often considered to fuse together in the form a fiduciary's best interest duty.

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superannuation, regulation, wealth management, banking, insuranceGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, legal, qmv legal, hayne royal commission, prudence, hawking, efficiency, commissioner, finance
Productivity Commission Recommendation 14: Not-for-profit for all?
Productivity Commission Recommendation 14: Not-for-profit for all?

The long-awaited Productivity Commission report on its three-year inquiry into competition and efficiency in superannuation has made a curious finding and recommendation that "because super funds are legally obliged to act in members' best interests, the fees they charge should not exceed cost recovery levels."

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superannuationGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, productivity commission, not-for-profit, superannuation, trustees, fees, administration, outsourcing, APRA, recommendation, mysuper, cost recovery, legal
Royal Commission: Are Solutions Harder Than Grasping At A Column Of Smoke?
Royal Commission: Are Solutions Harder Than Grasping At A Column Of Smoke?

While the Royal Commission spotlight has focused heavily on the major banks, the non-bank owned mass of the superannuation industry must also adjust to the climate of change with a resolve for improvement.

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banking, insurance, regulation, superannuation, wealth managementGuest Userlegal, qmv legal, jonathan steffanoni, royal commission, qmv, grandfathered, commissions, remediation, civil penalties, best interests, sis act, breach, disclosure, literate, corporations act, kenneth hayne
Best-Interests Duty Is Not That Complicated
Best-Interests Duty Is Not That Complicated

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has thrown some light onto the superannuation sector’s conduct while left alone in the dark with the retirement savings of Australians.

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banking, regulation, superannuationGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, qmv, Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, royal commission, superannuation, banking, fiduciary, trustee, Kenneth Hayne, incentives, legal
Rebuilding Trust In Financial Services
Rebuilding Trust In Financial Services

The path to rebuilding trust with Australians starts now for leaders in the Australian financial services industry. The shift from rhetoric to solutions needs to be swift. In his 2015 book looking back at the global financial crisis title Other People’s Money, Financial Times journalist John Kay quoted American writer Upton Sinclair, to the effect that: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

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banking, superannuation, wealth management, regulationGuest Userlegal, jonathan steffanoni, trust, royal commission, australians, prudence, superannuation, trustees, Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, banking
Pre 2018-19 Commonwealth Budget - What Might Be In Store For The Superannuation System?
Pre 2018-19 Commonwealth Budget - What Might Be In Store For The Superannuation System?

After a busy few years of regulatory change, the 2018-19 Commonwealth budget is shaping up to continue the trend as yet another important policy intersection for the Australian superannuation and pensions system.

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superannuation, regulationGuest Userjonathan steffanoni, commonwealth budget, 2018/2019, royal commission, superannuation, smsf, self-managed superannuation fund, superannuation guarantee, budget, gig economy, housing affordability, domestic violence, taxation rates, open banking, legislation, legal