Super contributions place pressure on wealth managers

Employer contributions into employee superannuation accounts have hit record levels, spurred on by the new Superannuation Guarantee level, forcing asset and wealth managers to upgrade their processes to deal with the increasing levels of funds flowing into superannuation.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) shows that during the third quarter of this year, the first in which the new 9.25 per cent Superannuation Guarantee level was levied, $15.57 billion was paid by employers into employee super accounts in the third quarter of this year.

This was up 4.8 per cent from this time last year when employer contributions were $14.88 billion and also an increase of 1.2 per cent from second quarter contributions for this year of $15.38 billion.

DST Bluedoor executive director Martin Spedding said the increasing level of funds flowing into superannuation was "forcing superannuation funds, wealth managers and administrators to upgrade their technology solutions to seek efficiencies and automate manual processes".

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He said the national superannuation savings pool was currently at $1.75 billion and would reach $2 trillion in 2014. This would drive asset managers to be more efficient, increasing spending in technology as they kept abreast of regulatory changes and productivity gains.

"Over the past year, we've seen a rise in technology spend by superannuation funds and other financial service organisations and we expect this trend to continue," Spedding said.

"Greater regulation of the superannuation sector through SuperStream regulation and APRA data reporting is only adding to the pressure on superannuation funds to upgrade their technology systems and become more efficient."