HESTA, QSuper, CareSuper and VicSuper were some of the big winners at Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees 2016 Awards for Excellence, each taking home multiple awards.
A focus on connecting with members – including ‘old-fashioned’ face-to-face meetings – was a feature of the winning campaigns.
Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive Tom Garcia said this year’s awards demonstrated the dedication among not-for-profit super funds to fostering meaningful relationships with their members.
“Whether helping members understand super or assisting them to return to work, these campaigns demonstrate the increasing ‘whole-of-life’ approach being adopted by leading not-for-profit super funds,” Garcia said.
Recognising that face-to-face contact with members is still important in this digital age, UniSuper’s Australia-wide on-campus consultant service won best internal project (for funds with funds under management over $10 billion) while Tasplan took out the best internal project (for funds with funds under management less than $10 billion) for its new contact centre.
Sunsuper’s focus on member rehabilitation and helping members return to work saw the fund take out the best member-facing project award for insurance innovation.
Meanwhile, Cbus’s annual report, which the judges praised for its “seamless user experience”, won the best corporate reporting award.
AIST’s executive manager, leadership and governance, Eva Scheerlinck, said Cbus did an outstanding job communicating to their members and stakeholders about what makes them different, while also identifying a number of issues faced by the industry such as super guarantee non-compliance, regulatory changes and investment markets.
“This is an annual report that provides members with easy access to a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips,” Scheerlinck said.
This year, the prestigious platinum communication award was shared by CareSuper (for its ‘Consider & Commit’ campaign) and VicSuper (for its ‘Your future is in your Hands’ campaign).
Individuals were also recognised at the awards via leader development scholarships, sponsored by State Street. HESTA business strategy adviser Dirk Dobbs was recognised with the outstanding fund staff member award, while HESTA director Lisa Darmanin received the outstanding trustee director award.
Award winners
