This blog contains interactive charts, so please feel free to click, slide and hover through the visualisations below. For the best browser experience, please use Google Chrome, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Note that the figures presented in this blog are for illustration only and they should not be used for anyone’s personal circumstances.

As our superannuation sector gradually shifts its attention from the accumulation to pension phase, the many challenges associated with retirement solutions will materialise.

First, there’s the complexity associated with product development and operation. For many funds, this represents a marked change from their traditional member offerings. It may involve partnering with a life insurer to provide longevity protection, implementing hedging strategies to mitigate investment market risk and, at the very least, administering an entirely new ecosystem within their membership.

Then there’s the issue of communicating the design and benefits of these solutions to members, and their financial advisers. Combining account-based pensions and longevity protection products with consideration of risk profiles, investment/life horizons and anticipated social security (Age Pension) benefits is not a simple task, particularly for those members who are married, where the spouse’s income and assets will be relevant.

As most fund members will not have access to a financial adviser, and many will not pay much (if anything) for a financial plan, how can funds raise the level of awareness amongst their members, and guide them towards a suitable solution?

In this blog, we focus on this challenge of low financial literacy as it relates to retirement solutions and how targeted member education delivered through intra-fund advice, can assist. Through the use of modern technology and consistent messaging over the course of many years, it will be possible to significantly reduce the amount of member interaction that is required with an adviser immediately before retirement in order to select and implement an appropriate retirement strategy.

For funds, providing members with regular relevant retirement projection information can improve the level of their members’ financial literacy. This is not a purely altruistic pursuit, as it can provide members with the confidence needed to make proactive decisions at the point of retirement and, hopefully, stay with their fund when they retire – that is, it helps with member retention. Married members could also bring their partners into the fund.

In addition, member information and education delivered in a dynamic visual format can provide members with a technology experience they would come to expect of any modern service, particularly one managing their largest concentration of wealth. This can simultaneously improve engagement of existing members and attract new members, keeping funds under administration higher than they would be otherwise.

Let us consider two superannuation fund members as they progress from first-time employees to retirees and look at some examples of the targeted dynamic visuals that can be shown to members to improve engagement and ultimately prepare members to select a retirement solution with confidence.

Life Stage: Under 30

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Life Stage: 30 - 40

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Life Stage: 40 - 50

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Life Stage: Over 50

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