The NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, today launched State Super’s new Academic Scholarship Program to support research into improving future retirement incomes.
State Super is one of Australia’s oldest and largest superannuation funds and the Scholarship Program has been developed as part of the Fund’s 100-year Anniversary celebrations.
State Super Chief Executive Officer, John Livanas, said the superannuation industry needs to look at how it can best provide a stable income stream for people in retirement over the long term.
“We want to safeguard the financial future of our members. We need to keep evolving and look for new ways to maximise the benefits for our members in a challenging economic environment,” said Mr Livanas.
“The aim of the Scholarship Program is to foster research in several priority areas including; innovation in superannuation, the future of pensions in the Public Sector and what this means for attracting and retaining talent.”
The Scholarship program will provide 12 months funding support for five successful post-graduate researchers, at ten participating NSW Universities.
Over its one hundred years of operation State Super has led the way in investments and services to members.
“State Super’s focus is on delivering financial surety for its members by achieving strong investment returns,” said Mr Livanas.
“Our focus, right from the start, has been on supporting our members. At the end of the fund’s first year of operation, it had about $800,000 in investments. Today, 100 years since we began, the State Super Pooled Fund is now one of the largest superannuation funds in Australia with assets totalling around $44 billion.”
“Over the next decade, we will face challenges with a changing membership profile, reduced inflows and anticipated regulatory changes. The research will assist us to meet these challenges and manage economic headwinds” said Mr Livanas.