Australia's second-largest superannuation fund, Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd (ART), has paid $18,780 to comply with an infringement notice issued by ASIC over allegedly misleading performance data published on ART's website.
Between July 2023 and July 2024, ART published out-of-date performance data about the performance of its default MySuper product, the Lifecycle Investment Strategy.
From 18 July 2023, the 2023 Super Savings Product Dashboard on ART's website incorrectly displayed the fund performance figures for the financial year ending June 2022, which were higher than the performance figures achieved for the financial year ending June 2023.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, "ASIC issued this infringement notice because we were worried that the outdated data published on ART's website could lead consumers to believe that the Lifecycle Investment Strategy's performance was better than it truly was.
'Superannuation is the largest asset of many Australians outside their family home. This notice is a reminder that it is imperative that Australian consumers are given accurate information to assess fund performance, especially in circumstances where they might be considering switching funds.'
Payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of liability.
The specific reasons for ASIC's concerns are set out in the three infringement notices which have been published on the Credit and ASIC Act infringements notices register.
Background
ART is the second superannuation fund to pay an infringement notice for allegedly false or misleading statements relating to past performance. In November 2023, H.E.S.T Australia Limited (HESTA) paid $48,000 to comply with three infringement notices related to allegedly misleading statements relating to the 10-year performance of its Balanced Growth investment option (23-299MR).
ASIC's Regulatory Guide 53 (RG 53) provides general guidance to the financial services industry on the appropriate use of past performance information in promotional material.
