“To be able to develop a mass-customised solution needs investment smarts,” Corneil says.

“[It requires] the ability to access uncorrelated asset classes; [the ability to] build them into a portfolio; to be able to constantly manage it; and then you have to be able to scale it.

“What I expect to see is a far more sophisticated interaction between [super funds’] contact management systems and the investments.”

Russell’s global president and chief executive officer Len Brennan said in a statement that to date no single firm “globally or in Australia has been able to solve the retirement-funding problem with a one-size-fits-all solution – the ultimate objectives and circumstances of retirees are highly diverse”

“There is no silver bullet,” Brennan said.

“As much as the financial services industry may try to simplify explanations for the benefit and understanding of end investors, there’s no getting away from the fact investing in today’s world is an increasingly complex business.

“Consequently, our belief is that sophisticated multi-asset solutions are required to help develop a menu of next-generation retirement products.”