#19. Co-hosts Neil Benson and Sarah Penn unpack the latest trends and news impacting the superannuation industry.

We cover:

1. Super brand recognition: Surprising results from a Conjointly brand tracker highlight low public awareness of major super brands, including only 57% recognition for AussieSuper and 49% for Hostplus, challenging industry assumptions.
2. The complexity and cost of rebranding: Rebrands are frequent but often more about internal politics than member benefit, and establishing a new name remains a major challenge.
3. The effectiveness of marketing: Despite significant marketing spend, switching rates and member engagement appear largely unchanged, raising questions about return on investment.
4. Member churn and fund flows: Recent reports show industry fund outflows to adviser-led platforms are modest compared to overall inflows, with most money still coming in via default arrangements rather than active switching.
5. Retention dilemmas: As members with larger balances approach retirement, funds struggle to retain them, particularly when financial advisers commonly recommend rolling over to retail platforms.
6. Regulatory challenges and innovation barriers: Uncertainty around advice laws is inhibiting proactive member communications and innovation, especially in retirement products.
7. Fraud and scam protection: ASIC urges funds to strengthen member communications to prevent fraud, but losses remain minor (at $22 million), and tougher controls could erode member experience.
8. Confidence and legislative change: Frequent government tinkering causes member concern, yet most changes aim to improve fairness, and fears of losing all super are unfounded.
9. New superannuation legislation: Discussion around the Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System bill, with support for balancing changes to both high and low-balance accounts.
10. Industry news: Notable updates include Commonwealth Super’s major tech upgrade, HESTA CEO Debbie Blakey’s retirement, and the release of a new AFCA complaints guide.
11. Personal achievement: Neil celebrates passing the RG 146 superannuation qualification after a challenging process.

RESOURCES

1. Super brand tracker confirms golden status of AustralianSuper | Financial Standard - Brand Tracker by Conjointly based on 1344 individuals. 57% recognised AustralianSuper, 49% Hostplus, 48% AMP, 47% Rest, 45% CBUS. Survey also ranked consideration, performance perception, and customer support.
2. Superannuation customer churn hits First Super, NGS Super and Hostplus...