Written by:
Future Group
7 May 2026
Australia's superannuation system should be looking forward - anticipating the energy transition, nature risk and AI-driven disruption. The Your Future, Your Super performance test, as designed, encourages funds to invest based on sectors that have performed well in the past.
Future Group has developed a white paper, available to read in full here, highlighting a narrow set of reforms which would close the gap without weakening accountability. Drawing on Mandala's 2024 modelling and Future Group's policy submissions, this paper sets out the case in four points.
Introduced in 2021 to lift accountability, reduce fees and protect member returns. The weakest funds have exited; performance standards have risen.
Backward-looking, ten-year benchmarks force Chief Investment Officers to hug the index even where they can see structural risks ahead. Climate, nature and the energy transition are material risks the test is blind to.
Mandala's G-Cubed CGE modelling shows reform could lift real GDP by $170 billion, support 620,000 new green jobs and deliver 15% higher returns for green portfolios over ten years.
Two targeted reforms preserve accountability while giving funds room to invest in the transition: empower APRA to evolve benchmarks and add a CPI+ benchmark for diversifying private-market assets.
