‘Heavy-handed’ rules needed to force super funds to help retirees

Labor may need to take the “heavy-handed” step of forcing superannuation funds to get a separate licence to offer retirement products and imposing tougher legal duties around their standards if they want the $3.6 trillion industry to improve its poor track record on helping customers retire, experts say.

Super fund bosses have conceded they have fallen short on preparing their customers for retirement, even as 3.6 million Baby Boomers prepare to leave the workforce in the next decade, with regulators and politicians warning them to lift their game.