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Appetite for member engagement growing
Superannuation fund loyalty is on the rise, with members more likely to stay with their fund when they change jobs than previously, and ESSSuper, UniSuper and Cbus are leading the pack in member satisfaction rankings.
These were two of the findings of Investment Trends’ 2019 Super Fund Member Sentiment and Communications Report, which revealed that among super fund members who changed job in the last three years, 63 per cent said they remained with their fund rather than changing to their new employer’s default. This was up from 54 per cent in 2017.
“When changing jobs, more Australians are making a conscious decision to stay with their current super fund instead of passively accepting their new employer’s default option,” Investment Trends senior analyst, King Loong Choi, said.
“Increased marketing efforts by industry super funds and recent rumblings from the Royal Commission have further raised consciousness around superannuation, prompting more Australians to move from casual to mindful stewards of their own super.”
Further, three-quarters of members interacted with their fund in some way over the last year, including by reading the annual statement (39 per cent), visiting their fund’s website (28 per cent), and reading regular communications (28 per cent).
There was appetite to engage with funds at a deeper level however, with members trying but proving unsuccessful in their attempts to do so. The most commonly unresolved member issue amongst the activities observed in the study, which drew on the views of more than 9,000 super fund members, was seeking financial advice face-to-face. This was followed by help comparing super funds to other funds, accessing super through mobile devises, and accessing seminars or education content.
“The most commonly unaddressed super-related activities were also those perceived as the most difficult to conduct,” Choi said. “Given members’ significant appetite for advice and education, super funds must improve their access to the services most sought after by their members.”
Amongst the things that members felt funds did well in terms of engagement were their websites and the quality of annual statements. The things rated as poorest were again seminars and educational materials and funds’ advice offerings.
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