Superannuation Funds preparing for entry to the Financial Advice Space

The Federal Government has accepted the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) recommendation to allow superannuation funds to provide retirement advice and information to their members about investments.  At a recent meeting of industry executives, Minister Stephen Jones said superannuation funds would be the big winner from QAR.

While the finer details have not been released, it appears superannuation funds:

• Could provide personal advice on both superannuation and investments
• Should take into consideration the member’s personal circumstances, including social security entitlements, and
• Charge a fee for the advice they provide, although it is anticipated there will be a limit on the fees that can be charged.

While superannuation funds, may be the “winner”, a lot of preparation will be required by the superannuation funds to meet the requirements of the government.  If the government is true to form, I suspect they will severely limit the fees that can be charged to members.

Digital technology will be the key to their success.  While many promote the use of AI, I believe this is a flawed model when the fund must take into consideration the member’s personal circumstances.

Advice Online is a software developed to meet these challenges.  Let’s see how simple the process for the superannuation fund will be:

• The member is asked to register an Advice Online account and complete the Fact Find.
• The Fact Find includes a section called “About Me and My Family”, that will provide the adviser about the member’s personal situation, their risk tolerance, their short term financial objectives and the advice they require.
• The Fact Find includes an easy-to-complete table of information about their investments, homeownership and all their retirement accounts.
• The Fact Find, tells the adviser how much the member wishes to spend in making additional loan payments and investments, including personal superannuation contributions.
• Once the Fact Find is completed, the adviser is notified by email.
• The adviser reviews the information in the Fact Find and then imports the information directly into a financial plan.
• The adviser reviews the objectives of the member and optimizes the plan to meet those objectives.
• Once the plan is completed, the adviser will write their advice specific to that member, using a selection of advice panels.  The advice can be as simple or as complex as required.
• Advice Online will then automatically generate the Advice Record.
• The adviser will “Publish the Advice” and the member is notified the Advice Record has been completed.
• The member will log into their account and find not only the Advice Record but a full multi-media experience.

This experience includes:

• The dashboard, provides 8 dials, displaying information on a yearly basis, allowing the client to slide to any year and view the results.
• The Advice Record is displayed as an interactive report, that can be downloaded as a PDF
• An additional three interactive reports (Plan Map Illustrated, The First 5 Years, and a Debt Management Summary).
• A further 10 PDF-style reports, including the Insurance Needs Evaluation that can be completed by the client and returned to the adviser in the Client Connect Portal.

You may be wondering what is a full multi-media experience.

Watch this short video clip to find out.

Glenis Phillips SF FIN

Designer of Financial Mappers and Advice Online