Personalisation and regulation keeping super industry awake at night

Personalisation and regulation are keeping the not-for-profit super industry awake at night. This is according to a recent industry survey by BNP Paribas Securities Services and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST). In March, at the 25th annual Conference of Major Super Funds (CMSF) on the Gold Coast of Australia, I tested those results.

Customers expect personalised services
83% of superannuation fund executives expect to personalise each member’s fund experience by 2025 according the survey. Rebecca James, Chief Marketing Officer at ME Bank confirmed this, stating that static transactions are no longer enough for customers. They want a deeper experience and businesses are transforming themselves using data insights and digital capability to cater to their demands.

“The information age is dead and gone. It’s been replaced by the information economy, where computing power paired with data and communications is making amazing connections with consumers,” declared James.

Tom Garcia, Chief Executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), discussed the prediction that in five years’ time every financial transaction would be carried out on a mobile device.He highlighted how technology can leverage the trend towards personalisation by developing services such as a financial aggregator for members through an app, an e-commerce portal for employers, or better business analytics of member data to help customisation of services.

“The world is moving to self-service and members are doing it for themselves,” said Garcia.

Regulatory change continues with no end in sight
41% of asset owners now believe that regulatory change is the most worrying factor for 2015 according to the BNP Paribas Securities Services and AIST survey. Regulations are ever-changing, and risk management and compliance remain priorities. Fee disclosure legislation is gaining momentum and the industry is struggling to adapt. Investment companies are searching for solutions that will help them increase operational transparency.

Raewyn Williams, Director of Research and After-Tax Solutions at Parametric, agreed. She predicts that super fund trustees will increasingly want to partner with organisations that can bring transparency to costs embedded in the portfolio.

Introducing AlphaCert to the non-for-profit super sector
This was our first foray to CMSF in Australia. The introduction of AlphaCert proved timely. AlphaCert frees up talented people to do what they do best: add value to investment portfolios. The system rapidly integrates multiple data streams, validates them and creates a single source of truth for investment managers. From the base technology, customers add AlphaCert modules that meet their individual business needs. The non-for-profit super industry may be struggling with insomniac issues around competition, new legislation and customer expectations but now there is a solution that can change the game: AlphaCert.

Scroll to Top