When I jump in my car I very rarely have any conscious awareness of the controls around me, including the range of dials and flashing lights that make up the dashboard in front of me.
However, on reflection, I rely on the dashboard for vital information to help keep me out of trouble and reach my destination safely. The speedometer stops me incurring speeding fines (most of the time!), and warning lights make sure I don’t run out of petrol or burn out the engine. I am not a mechanic, but I get enough information to alert me to potential problems so I can take the car to someone who is a trusted expert.
The familiarity and simplicity of the dashboard approach to delivering information also appeals to management consultants, and we regularly find “dashboards” popping up as part of a company’s business information system.
Now it seems we are about to see the impact of this approach in the area of employee superannuation. One of the key pieces of the new MySuper regulations is the introduction of a “product dashboard” for superannuation products.
Trustees of public offer super funds must publish a product dashboard for each MySuper product from July 1, 2013. “Choice” products will follow later, from July 1, 2014.
The original idea of MySuper was to standardise and simplify superannuation products being used as investment vehicles for superannuation guarantee contributions, having particular regard to the needs of “disengaged” fund members, many of whom would be in a particular fund simply as a result of an industrial agreement or the fund being otherwise nominated by their employer.
The proposed dashboard will be presented in a tabular form, including a graphical presentation of historic investment performance. The items to be included are:
• Target investment return
• Actual (historic) investment return
• A comparison between actual and target returns
• A measure of the level of investment risk, and
• A statement of fees and costs
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