The divisions of Professional Associations Super are gathering under a new banner to present a united front on Stronger Super legislation.
Recruitment Super, Accountants Super, Australian Enterprise Super and SMART Pension will be married under a new name and profile to cut down on administrative costs and develop the fund's positioning as it moves to submit a single MySuper product, according to Professional Associations Super chairman Ross Fisher.
"We'll have one MySuper offering and we'll have one option offering and that will minimise the administrative overhead, it will minimise the number of PDSs we have, and generally meet the objectives that the regulators had when they came up with the Stronger Super proposition," Fisher said.
Professional Associations Super were working with consultants to develop an intrafund advice offering, align its insurance offerings and ensure investment offerings did not disadvantage members relative to their current position.
Fisher said the structural and strategy changes were essentially complete, but the marketing team and an external consultant needed to assess flow-on affects and implementation issues.
He said combining the three divisions would make the fund more recognisable.
A new name would strengthen its mobile member base and position the fund as one "that will move with them and grow with them", but it was still being tested, Fisher said.
He said it was the perfect time to implement the branding changes and present them to stakeholders as part of the legislative overhaul. It meant the new fund would launch at the same time as its single MySuper product.
Professional Associations Super has also appointed Anthony De Fazio who has 18 years' industry experience across YMCA Super, Asset Super and NAB Asset Servicing, as a senior investment analyst to strengthen the fund's internal investment expertise.
The future of superannuation policy remains uncertain, with further reforms potentially on the horizon as the Albanese government seeks to curb the use of superannuation as a bequest vehicle.
Superannuation funds will have two options for charging fees for the advice provided by the new class of adviser.
The proposed reforms have been described as a key step towards delivering better products and retirement experiences for members, with many noting financial advice remains the “urgent missing piece” of the puzzle.
APRA’s latest data has revealed that superannuation funds spent $1.3 billion on advice fees, with the vast majority sent to external financial advisers.