The SMSF Association has announced the appointment of Jeremy Cooper to its public policy committee, which it claims demonstrates the peak industry body’s commitment to have the right policy settings for retirement income, superannuation and financial services.
Cooper is chair of retirement income at Challenger with a focus on research, public policy issues and thought leadership.
His wide-ranging career includes experience covering five years as deputy chair at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and most notably chair of the Stronger Super review or Cooper review, a comprehensive evaluation of Australia’s superannuation system, during 2009 and 2010.
“The decision to invite Jeremy to join the committee continues the tradition of looking outside our own membership ranks to ensure we get the expertise, knowledge and experience to make a valuation contribution to the policy debate,” SMSF Association chief executive John Maroney said today.
Former Labor parliamentary secretary Bernie Ripoll joined the committee in March last year.
Maroney said Cooper and Ripoll’s skills complement the six other committee members from the association’s board, senior executive management and membership, guaranteeing the diversity of views necessary for good public policy.
Commenting on his appointment, Cooper said: “While chairing the review of the super system nearly a decade ago, I came to appreciate both the importance of SMSFs and the critical role the SMSF Association plays in advocating for this sector and the broader super industry.
“I am looking forward to playing a public policy role at a time when we are about to see a majority of the assets in the SMSF in pension mode.
“It will be critically important to get the policy settings right as we enter into this new chapter of the system’s evolution.”
