Dr. Asher, an actuary and Associate Professor at UNSW Business School, joined the PPS Mutual Board in 2024 and brings decades of experience across the financial services sector, academia, and industry bodies. His career includes senior roles with Prudential in South Africa, APRA, and Deloitte in Australia, alongside longstanding involvement with the Actuaries Institute and the non-profit sector.

He takes on the role at a time of strong momentum for PPS Mutual, which has recently surpassed 15,000 Members and $106 million in in-force premiums. The business has also been named Australia’s highest-rated insurer for three consecutive years, achieving an industry-leading Net Promoter Score of 54.8 in the Adviser Ratings Australian Financial Advice Landscape 2025 report, while ranking first in six major adviser satisfaction categories including trust, reputation, and client understanding.

Chief Executive Michael Pillemer said Dr. Asher’s appointment marks an important next chapter for the mutual: “Anthony’s unique blend of industry expertise, governance experience and vision makes him the ideal leader to chair our Board at this exciting stage of PPS Mutual’s journey. He brings not only deep technical and governance expertise but also a principled, values-driven outlook. His leadership will help ensure that PPS Mutual continues to grow sustainably while staying true to its mission of serving the needs of Australian professionals.”

Dr. Asher said he was honoured to step into the Chair at a time when PPS Mutual is increasingly recognised for the strength of its model: “The foundation of PPS Mutual lies in alignment with our insured Members – when the company succeeds, Members share directly in that success. That creates a culture of trust that is rare in the insurance sector. I look forward to working closely with the Board, Michael, and his executive team to continue building on this success and ensuring that we deliver consistently for Members and advisers into the future.”

Reflecting on his tenure, outgoing Chair Mike Jackson said it had been a privilege to contribute to PPS Mutual’s development in Australia and to witness the renewed reputation of mutuals globally.

“Over my career I have seen many industry models tested, but mutuals have consistently stood out for their resilience. Globally, during the Global Financial Crisis and again in the pandemic, they held stronger reserves, responded flexibly, and put Members’ interests first. For me, that strength lies in a model that balances commercial discipline with a genuine commitment to the people it serves. It has been rewarding to see that ethos take root in Australia through PPS Mutual, and I am confident Anthony will continue to guide it with the same focus. I look forward to supporting him during the transition.”

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $3 billion in profits with Members over the last 10 years. PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian Members who share in the profits of the products that they buy.

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Anthony Asher

Superannuation funds should include a longevity-based product in their retirement income offerings and provide retirees with greater levels of low-cost financial advice to help improve living standards for older Australians.

In a Dialogue paper, Developing the Retirement Income Framework, academic actuary Anthony Asher states that having products that more efficiently manage longevity risk will result in higher living standards in retirement and better align the superannuation system with its objectives.

According to the author, making it compulsory for superannuation trustees to at least offer products that provide longevity risk cover would help Australians increase their retirement income, potentially by as much as 15% to 30%.

The Federal Government has issued a Retirement Income Covenant Position Paper, to help form the first stage of the retirement income framework. Findings from its Retirement Income Review are due soon. The Dialogue paper adds to the public debate around what happens to retirees’ savings once they retire, and whether retirees spend enough to enjoy life once they stop work.

Australians have been accumulating retirement savings via compulsory superannuation contributions since 1992. Industry experts argue there’s now need for a deeper development of Australia’s post-retirement market, when retirees are looking for the best ways to enjoy life but are worried about ensuring they can make their savings last.

“It seems clear that more direct Government intervention may be required – just like the introduction of the superannuation Guarantee, MySuper and even Account Based Pensions,” the paper states. “While not likely to be popular, there is potentially a case for compulsory partial allocation of some members’ superannuation to lifetime income stream products in retirement.”

The Dialogue paper states a new framework should incorporate a requirement for all trustees to include a covenant requiring them to offer longevity risk-style products and affordable advice to members to ensure longevity products are broadly tailored to their needs. This could be similar to the requirement for trustees to offer insurance to members. The proposal to offer longevity protection recognises that these products may not be suitable for take-up by members with low balances.

The paper suggests that the cost of advice could be significantly reduced if the Australian Tax Office (ATO) could provide some of the data necessary for good advice. The ATO holds information about an individual’s income, superannuation and share assets. If this could be provided, with appropriate permission, in a standardised format to advisors the cost of advice could be significantly reduced.

The paper states few new longevity products have been brought to the market despite new legislation that supports them.

Reluctance, from the industry, to embrace these products could reflect:

• concerns about lack of demand from members for new products
• perceptions that retirees’ needs are diverse and super funds could find it too complex to mass-customise longevity products
• concerns the products are irrevocable and people will regret their decisions, and
• fears that trustees may be taking on significant risk in providing advice on longevity products.

According to Mr Asher, most retirees’ needs fall into just five general requirements from their savings. These are: a high income, an income that lasts (including for a spouse), a stable annual income, access to enough capital and a desire to leave a bequest. People assign different weights to these objectives, but trustees can offer a range of products to meet each of these needs and provide advice based on general expectations.

He argues, that, as a minimum, funds should offer members an appropriate longevity protection product for all or part of their balance, setting out pros and cons, before paying any benefits at retirement.

“Members and their beneficiaries are prejudiced by the absence of options to obtain suitable income stream products, and trustees should be at risk if they fail to make such an option salient,” the paper states. “Modelling shows a 15-30% increase in retirement income by using an appropriate allocation to suitable lifetime income streams.“

Anthony Asher is an Associate Professor at the University of NSW Business School. He is available for interview.

Read Developing the Retirement Income Framework.

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Anthony Asher

Three of Australia’s leading superannuation and retirement experts have urged the Federal Government to give broad scope to its pending review of Australia’s retirement system, to better integrate the Age Pension, superannuation and aged care.

Dr David Knox, Dr Anthony Asher and Michael Rice, authors of the Actuaries Institute’s Green Paper, Options for an Improved and Integrated System of Retirement, state that Australia’s current system has obvious shortcomings: it is complex, intrusive, contains anomalies, produces perverse incentives, and is sometimes unfair.

“And, as an increasing proportion of the population move from the accumulation to the pension phase, problems that beset the system will become more apparent,” the paper states.

“The best system would take an integrated view across all sources of income and expenses for retirees,” said Actuaries Institute Chief Executive Elayne Grace. “This includes the Age Pension, superannuation, the family home, aged care and health costs.”

“The current system, though world-leading in some respects, falls well short of that.”

The Actuaries Institute believes the overarching objective of the retirement system should be to ensure that Australians can confidently live their retirement years in dignity. The system must be fair and efficient.

Right now, there is potential fiscal headroom to accommodate changes, especially when a holistic approach to retirement is taken.

The report states retirees need access to a regular income stream, savings to cover unexpected expenses, and protection against longevity, inflation and market risks, known as the ‘retirement income trilemma’.

But the system must be simple to understand so that retirees who don’t seek financial advice can still make smart choices.

Intergenerational fairness is crucial. The cost to government and taxpayers must be shared equitably. And there must be encouragement for those who can afford to defer consumption to do so to provide for their retirement.

Retirees should also be persuaded to spend to maintain a dignified standard of living, and not transfer wealth through large bequests to the next generation.

There should not be incentives to ‘game the system’ and disincentives in the form of penal means tests or taxes are undesirable.

Now is the time for review. “The Actuaries Institute encourages that debate to start now,” the paper states.

“If it does not, Australians may lose the opportunity presented by the fiscal headroom of the declining Age Pension costs, and the lead time we have to prepare for known longer-term changes, such as those to patterns of home ownership and work, longevity and growing health and aged care costs.”

Age Pension costs as a proportion of gross domestic product should fall, but long-term projections show aged care is the second fastest growing category of expenditure after the NDIS, and likely to rise as longevity rates increase.

The options for reform reviewed in the paper include:

• simplifying the Age Pension, better integrating it with superannuation and aged care;
• addressing anomalies created from exempting the family home from Age Pension means testing;
• embedding automatic adjustments in the superannuation preservation age and the Age Pension eligibility age to reflect changes in longevity (although not necessarily in a one-for-one manner);
• setting targets for government expenditure for support in retirement;
• addressing tax and aged care funding anomalies; and
• co-ordinating policies for support in retirement.

These could be achieved with a simpler Age Pension means test, an option that might allow retirees to ‘buy the Age Pension’, or a simpler, combined assets and income test. There could also be a universal Age Pension and/or a concession card that allows everyone over a set age to access cheaper medical care and Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme drugs.

The authors also point to the perceived unfairness of the current system. “There are individual accounts, worth tens of millions of dollars that are taxed at the concessional rates for all superannuation of 15% on investment income and 10% on capital gains.” The amount held in super could be capped, or those with large balances could pay more tax.

The Actuaries Institute encourages the initial discussion of reform be kept at a high level to identify the options that have enough support to be further developed.

In summing up, and urging the government to act, Actuaries Institute President Nicolette Rubinsztein said, “There are a number of known longer-term trends: an ageing population, a maturing superannuation system, changing patterns of home ownership and work, a growing dispersion of wealth and health, and growing private costs for health and aged care.

“All of these will aggravate the inconsistencies that stem from a lack of appropriate integration between the various components and undermine the potential for a dignified life for all retirees.”

Key points:

• Australian retirees will face greater diversity in wealth, health and longevity outcomes.
• More retirees will reach retirement age as renters, or not having paid off their family home.
• The Actuaries Institute believes structural reform will deliver a fairer retirement for all.
• Options for review should be bold and consider universal benefits, the means tests, the treatment of the family home, and an end to tax concessions for large super fund balances.

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