“They really have to do research,” CoreData’s head of advice, wealth and super told InvestorDaily.
“They have to segment their membership database and actually ask the questions of their members and not just when they are 50-odd [years old], when their member has spoken to their neighbour’s accountant.”
However, super funds generally haven’t had a conversation with members early enough in the piece to put someone off who has already got to them, he added.
According to CoreData’s bespoke research, this is even more important as SMSFs are increasingly being set up by younger people.
It is not just those who are about to retire, but also those in their forties and fifties, and there is even demand from young professionals in their thirties, Mr Saiz said.
“The super funds themselves have to be very keenly aware of [this],” he added.
Some funds have developed direct investment options to give individuals more control over their assets, but CoreData believes this is only one reason why people set up SMSFs, and in order to address the other reasons funds need to deepen their dialogue with their members.
“There are different ways that funds could be looking to better engage and then have members think of super within their broader financial concerns,” Mr Saiz said.
Members have got more immediate concerns: “They have mortgages, they have debts and they don’t immediately think super, and it is about bringing super into that picture,” he said.
