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New Zealand Council of Social Services,
From 1 July this year community groups that employ staff will be required to offer them a superannuation scheme. This can either be a default scheme provided through the government or the employer’s own preferred provider. A group of people in the community and voluntary sector have been doing some work on creating a scheme that would be owned by the sector.
The establishment of a community owned and controlled superannuation fund will help the sector to reduce its dependency on government and philanthropic funding and to give members a means of controlling the products and/or firms in which their funds are invested.
The proposed CommunitySuper fund will invest its monies in social and ethically responsible investment products rather than in mainstream products that are often invested in firms which contribute to the social, cultural, economic and environmental disparities that the community organisation is attempting to address. It is envisaged that further down the track funds will also be invested in community organisations and projects that meet acceptable credit risk criteria.
Over the past fifteen years, traditional retail superannuation schemes have been returning an average of 3.5%, and wholesale schemes have been returning 5.5%. Member owned schemes that this proposal is modelled on have been returning 7%.
People involved in this project are currently organising some meetings around the country to talk with the sector about their proposal. Look out for further information or contact NZCOSS to register your interest: sharon@nzcoss.org.nz, ph 03 366 2050.
Source: NZCOSS News 02 Mar 2007.