To date, 180 industry professionals have registered to attend an inaugural superannuation insurance event that aims to dissect concerns regarding a detected insurance gap faced by Australian super fund members.

The Superannuation Insurance Symposium (SIS), run by AIST in conjunction with MetLife, will take place in Melbourne next week. Maryann Mannix-White, AIST executive officer, said the motivation behind SIS was to generate “an open dialogue” among super fund trustees, staff and insurance product providers on subjects including insurance product design, tendering processes, formulation of insurance covers and costs, and the insurance products required by fund members with special needs. The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal would also present an update of its assessment of total permanent disability and other insurance claims, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission would provide its view of trustees’ obligations to members regarding superannuation insurance, Mannix-White said. Howie Kurpit, US MetLife vice president, is also booked to address SIS. Event sessions will run throughout Wednesday 6 June, following an opening dinner the previous night.