Industry stakeholders appearing on a panel at the recent Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds conference in the Hunter Valley were asked where key threats were likely to come from in the future.
General manager of operations at AustralianSuper, Shawn Blackmore, said from an industry fund perspective, the threat is “the convenience factor that a bank can offer in terms of offering a consolidated view of a customer’s entire wealth situation”.
A member’s retirement account balance is more than just their superannuation account, he said.
“I see technology playing a role in letting industry funds take that next step and have a wealth management view of a person’s whole portfolio. There are a lot of offers out there but no-one’s quite nailed it. From an industry fund perspective that [rounded wealth offer is] probably the biggest threat.”
Jennifer McDermott, head of product and proposition, Platform Solutions Group, UBS Securities, said consumers themselves can be part of the competition when it comes to the direct to consumer channel.
“Digitally savvy [consumers] are competition to a certain extent and we need to stay relevant. We need to deliver a personalised, relevant user experience,” she said.
“The integration of other wealth management services, whether they are offered by other organisations or the same organisations [also present competition]. We have to be mindful and make sure we stay relevant,” she said.
However, technology can also present an opportunity for industry funds to broaden their offering and better engage with financial planners, Mr Blackmore said.
Technology breaks down barriers to direct investment options and allows greater engagement between industry funds and advisers, he said.
“We can have model portfolios, we can have advisers deduct fees from members’ account balances to pay for services. We have a referral panel with six external [advice groups] looking at these opportunities,” he said.
“It has taken industry funds a long time to work out how to service advisers and adviser practices – and we have sometimes learned the hard way – but we are seeing considerable demand from those advisers to work together. It has exceeded anything we expected.”
AustralianSuper is pleased by the amount of built-up demand outside its direct referral group, he added.
