Australia's super funds are becoming too big to ignore — or govern

Compulsory super was a policy triumph. But success has created a new problem: a handful of mega-funds now sit at the centre of Australian capital markets.

When a fund this large rebalances, the market feels it. When it values an unlisted asset, members' outcomes hinge on a number few can independently check.

Scale brings lower fees and global heft. It also concentrates power, stewardship duties and systemic importance in institutions designed for a smaller era.

The fix is not to shrink the funds. It is to govern them like the systemically important institutions they have quietly become.