It used to be that when a super fund member retired, they were largely left to fend for themselves. But today, funds are developing strategies to engage with members well before that moment arrives, to simplify the choices and decisions members need to make and to smooth the transition from working life.
Retirement longevity solutions are elegant, sophisticated and do what they say on the tin, but widespread adoption remains elusive. The answer may be to focus on how people actually think about retirement security rather than how the industry thinks they should think about it, to help bridge the gap between effective financial solutions and genuine human needs.
New research from Investment Magazine publisher Conexus Financial and CoreData has found widespread lack of progress on improving member experience and retirement preparedness levels in the profit-to-member super industry despite persistent warnings from regulators. The revelation comes as the peak body for industry funds calls for mandatory service standards to be fast-tracked.
For years the regulators have urged super funds to move faster to meet Retirement Income Covenant obligations. But new research shows how a continued lack of urgency has translated into poor preparedness for and satisfaction with retirement among super fund members.
Zurich is set to be awarded one of the heated group life insurance market’s most sought-after mandates, as the $330 billion Australian Retirement Trust re-allocates its insurance offering after a competitive tender process while continuing to insure some of its own members through its existing subsidiary provider.
Australian Retirement Trust needs assets that can grow with it as it powers towards half a trillion dollars in funds under management. The fund reckons it’s found just that with renewables developer and operator Pattern Energy.
Australian insurers are grappling with a near-doubling of mental health insurance payouts. The Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit will bring together experts from across the industry to address both the sustainability of insurance products and the underlying health epidemic that’s brought the entire social safety net under pressure.
The $140 billion UniSuper is “hoarding cash” as it faces down choppy markets and the potential for spiking inflation. Chief investment officer John Pearce is also considering whether it’s time to trim back the fund’s US holdings but says suggestions of an end to US exceptionalism are exaggerated and premature.
Both the risk and impact of cyberattacks can be reduced by super funds more formally sharing information with each about incidents, but historical concerns about brand and reputation damage hold the industry back.
The $34 billion Brighter Super is working on enhancing the resilience of its portfolio, making “strategic” moves in its active equity management program and adding more property to its Queensland Investment Strategy.
A willingness to make tough decisions in difficult circumstances characterises the careers of both former Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan AC and the neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, and will provide the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit with insights into the secrets of effective leadership in a challenging environment.
Submissions to ASIC’s discussion paper on public and private markets highlight a glaring contradiction: super funds, created and nurtured by regulation that has propelled them to more than $3 trillion in assets under management, oppose new regulations that would enhance safeguards around how those assets are managed.
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Investment Magazine provides in-depth, monthly analysis of trends and developments for all the businesses in which superannuation funds engage‚ including asset allocation, investment manager selection, custody and fund accounting, member administration, group insurance and compliance.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
