Govt canvasses super fund investment in Indonesia, Malaysia

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

2 November 2022

The Federal Government has signalled it wants Australian superannuation funds investing in some of Australia’s near neighbours, such as Indonesia.

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones has even gone so far as to suggest that Australian superannuation funds should be considering investments in south-east Asia ahead of investment in Europe.

Addressing a media conference, Jones said Australia had $3.4 trillion worth of national savings as a result of visionary policy decisions in the 1980s.

“Over the term of this government and into the next that $3.4 trillion will grow to $5 trillion,” he said.

“As important as the Australian Stock Exchange is, we can’t invest all of that money in Australian equities. We’re already doing an enormous job of work around infrastructure, already doing an enormous job of work around renewable energy,” Jones said.

“But in our near region we’ve got the pension funds of other countries investing in Indonesia, in Singapore, in the Pacific whilst Australian pension funds are relatively absent. So, it must strike us as a little bit strange – it certainly does our neighbours – to know that we’ve got the Canadian pension funds who are more deeply invested in Indonesia or Malaysia than they are – than Australian pension funds are.”

“So, what the government of Australia is saying, what the Albanese Labor government is saying is let’s get our heads above the desk and look abroad. Let’s not fly over Jakarta to look for investment opportunities in Europe. Let’s look at our near neighbours,” Jones said.

“…if we can align our national interests with the best interests of our members in superannuation funds, then we’re nuts if we don’t try and close deals,” he said.