FS Super

In August 2025, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at broadening the investments available in defined contribution plans (DC plans). On March 30, 2026, the US Department of Labor issued proposed guidance regarding a plan fiduciary's selection of investments, including private market and other alternative investments, in 401(k) plans.

BY   |  THURSDAY, 16 JUL 2026    9:15AM Fixed income transition costs are increasingly driven by what happens in credit markets. As credit trading becomes more efficient, the cost of transitioning fixed income portfolios is coming down, and how those transitions are executed is changing too. The key driver is not explicit fees, but how efficiently credit exposures are traded.

With Payday Super having commenced on 1 July 2026, many employers are undertaking compliance reviews and preparing to update processes and governance frameworks. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has also been busy releasing guidance to assist employers with the transition to the new rules. This paper addresses some of the key questions been raised so far. Have there been further changes to the legislative framework or commencement date?

Infrastructure provides essential services that allow economies to function, prosper and grow. Without huge investment in these essential services, the world will go backwards - socially, economically, and environmentally. Some might think that is a bold statement - but I think it is just the reality of where we stand in 2026 and I believe it makes infrastructure one of the most compelling investment themes of our generation.

Limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) allow a superannuation fund to borrow under strict conditions. Although LRBAs are not in the same class as nuclear physics for complexity, they should not be underestimated. Many advisers source cheap bare trust deeds from document providers thinking that the job is then done. Nothing is more dangerous. The transaction viewed as a whole has a multitude of traps for the unwary and inexperienced - traps that can cost the fund a lot of money.

BY   |  FRIDAY, 3 JUL 2026    11:30AM A "debt maturity wall" refers to a period in which a large amount of corporate debt comes due within a relatively short timeframe. These periods attract investor attention because borrowers often rely on refinancing existing debt rather than repaying it entirely from free cash flow.

If we are honest, our sector's decades long struggle with 'member engagement' is self-inflicted. We have confused availability of information with usefulness and equated more features with better outcomes. The result? Bloated websites, busy apps, sprawling portals, toolkits upon toolkits-yet limited evidence that members are making better retirement decisions.

Private markets continue to command a central role in institutional portfolios. Capital flows remain resilient across cycles, and findings from our fifth annual State Street 2026 Private Markets Study confirms the trajectory, with nearly half of institutions expecting to increase allocations over the next two years and only a minority stepping back.

The Pension Schemes Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of UK pensions legislation. This is arguably the most wide-ranging set of pension changes since the new pension freedoms came into effect in 2015. It will significantly change the way both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans operate.

BY   |  SUNDAY, 21 JUN 2026    12:36PM Credit markets have grown rapidly over the past decade. In 2025, private credit accounted for roughly 27% of the US$3.9 trillion US leveraged credit market, more than double its 13% share just a decade earlier. Forecasts suggest that private credit will continue to gain market share. With growth comes structural change. Traditional public-market issuers are increasingly weighing the merits of public versus private execution and pledging fealty to neither.