Superannuation funds need to underpin their calculators with features that will create more member engagement, Decimal believes.
Decimal chief executive, Nic Pollock, said the race to member engagement has been the result of calculators but engagement often stopped there.
"Calculators are great in terms of [the fact that they are] interesting and help people educate themselves. But we're seeing now a lot of people that have started those engagement tools and calculators that they want more and to take it further," Pollock said.
"You can prepopulate the calculator with information that's specific to members and execute them in a way that it does something with it on the platform."
Pollock said that the platform would need scale, and needed to be compliant and transparent so that the institution would be confident in rolling out more engagement tools on the same integrated and existing platform.
"Funds would struggle with the ability to scale just yet. But as the bigger institutions move into the market of course what they require is bank-grade technology and that needs to be super robust, super scalable and super compliant. If you haven't thought about that early on you're going to struggle," he said.
"While it is important to have the ability to execute advice, and to scale that, but the number one thing is that none of that engagement matters if it's not compliant. When you look at the number of robo-advisers coming out there's definitely a possibility of compliance issues."
A ratings firm has placed more prominence on governance in its fund ratings, highlighting that it’s not just about how much money a fund makes today, but whether the people running it are trustworthy, disciplined, and able to deliver for members in the future.
AMP has reached an agreement in principle to settle a landmark class action over fees charged to members of its superannuation funds, with $120 million earmarked for affected members.
Australia’s second-largest super fund is prioritising impact investing with a $2 billion commitment, targeting assets that deliver a combination of financial, social, and environmental outcomes.
The super fund has significantly grown its membership following the inclusion of Zurich’s OneCare Super policyholders.