In brief

SUPERANNUATION

Ridout assumes control

Heather Ridout will take over as the chairwoman of the two-million member AustralianSuper fund this week. Ms Ridout is a director of Sims Metal Management, ASX and is a member of the RBA board. She replaces Elana Rubin, who has served for six years as chairwoman.

BANKING

Credit puts crunch on families

Almost 80 per cent of Australians who have run up a credit card debt lie about it their family, a survey by creditcardfinder.com.au shows. Only 5.5 per cent would ask a family member for help to pay it down.

CONFIDENCE

Fund managers lose faith

Confidence among large fund managers globally fell in March, according to financial services holding company, State Street. Its investor confidence index dropped three points to 88, suggesting some selling out of the sharemarket. A reading of 100 is neutral.

ECONOMY

Inflation meets initial target

Inflation rose by 0.2 per cent in March to be up 2.1 per cent over the year, according to the TD Securities/Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge. That is within the Reserve Bank's inflation target of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.