The fund was managed by the board of directors up until 2007. In November 2007, Paul Cahill was appointed by the board as the fund’s inaugural chief executive to manage the day-to-day operation of the fund as well as implement the board’s strategic plans. Prior to this, Cahill was chief executive of the Australian Meat Industry Superannuation Trust for 16 years.
“The board has done a great job with managing the fund to bring it to where it currently stands. However, it’s hard to run a fund our size with our number of members by a board only,” Cahill said.
Since being at the helm of the fund Cahill has hired seven people, revamping the fund’s service providers and improving its insurance arrangements.
Employees now include head of member services Charlie Sala, marketing manager Rob Dawson, audit risk and compliance manager Phil Gindely and several member service people.
“Charlie’s focus will be to establish a member services program that meets the needs of our members” Cahill said.
The fund represents around 1500 clubs, 6000 plus employers with 150,000 members.
Sala already oversees three member service managers located in Coffs Harbour, Canberra and Metropolitan Sydney.
Dawson will focus on market segmentation and marketing communication for the fund as well as all of the usual marketing activities of the fund.
“Charlie and Rob’s responsibilities will run parallel with each other. Member visits will be backed up by mail and online services. Member visits are important as when it comes to people’s superannuation, people want to be comfortable with the people who look after their retirement savings,” Cahill said.
The fund has also changed a range of service providers.
National Custodian Services is now the fund’s master custodian, while CommInsure will manage all group risk insurance for the fund including its improved income protection offer. Brand management has also been hired to conduct market research and strategy on behalf of the fund.
“All service providers we have put in place will improve the fund,” Cahill said.
Club Plus Income protection cover has a 21-day waiting period and automatic acceptance. Club Plus Income protection will cover 90 per cent of a member’s salary plus the superannuation guarantee contributions (9 per cent after the 21-day wait).
“We want to make our insurances easy for our members to understand and use,” Cahill said.
ClubPlus has alliances with clubs in NSW and the ACT and is currently re-evaluating future opportunities.
Cahill acknowledges comments made by Minister for Superannuation Nick Sherry about the need for fund mergers to occur in the industry.
With about $1.2 billion in funds under management, however, Cahill said the fund is well-positioned to compete in the superannuation industry.
“Competition is good for everyone. For some funds of a particular size that have only small memberships, the cost structure to operate a fund makes it difficult to operate. For a fund like us, our cost structure is as good, if not better than most other funds,” he said.
