Member engagement tops fund CEOs’ priority list

Leaders in the super industry see improvements to member engagement as their top priority after a year of complex new regulatory and compliance requirements, a survey has revealed.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) and PwC CEO survey showed the top three priorities over the next three years for fund CEOs are better engagement between funds and fund members, operational efficiency and post-retirement products.

The survey also found funds want to build on the increase in member satisfaction that has occurred due to strong investment returns in 2012-13 by keeping investment management fees down.

ASFA CEO Pauline Vamos said funds also want to improve investment governance.

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"Interestingly, the areas they will now focus more on are active share ownership, sustainability and after-tax reporting," Vamos said.

"The other interesting finding was that around 75 per cent of respondents do not intend to insource their investment management over the next three years," Vamos said.

"The main reasons cited for this were cost, scale and risk appetite. This finding will be surprising to many people as it goes against the trend we have seen in recent years. It shows funds understand that insourcing funds management involves a very different risk profile and needs careful consideration."

Industry leaders have also prioritised operational matters. PwC's David Coogan said CEOs feel confident about complying with the Stronger Super regulation, adding that the majority of the respondents said they had adapted to the new regulations in their business.

"Costs are expected to continue to increase slightly in the next three years as the costs of technology, member engagement and increased regulatory compliance outweigh any savings that may have been realised from the introduction of MySuper and SuperStream," Coogan said.