When the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) kicks of its choice of fund awareness campaign in early April it will act as a trigger for similar campaigns by retail and industry superannuation funds and the major master trusts.
But contrary to some common perceptions, not every fund is spending big dollars on flashy advertising — well at least, not at first. Initially, most funds and master trusts will simply emulate the ATO by talking to employers and ensuring they understand the new dynamic.
While some funds are timing their information push for late March and early April when it is expected that the Government will release the formal choice regulations, others such as AMP and Mercer have been working hard to make sure employers are appropriately informed.
According to AMP’s director of corporate superannuation Greg Healy, the initial key has been ensuring employers are fully informed about what is evolving and the obligations that are likely to flow.
This is similar to the approach being adopted by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, where principal, David Anderson has outlined a highly targeted approach to ensure employers and then employees understand the new regime.
Mercer has broken down its approach to four elements:
n awareness;
n learning;
n decision-making;
n execution.
Essentially, the awareness phase has already begun, with the learning phase likely to kick off in March or April and the later stages taking effect after the choice start-up date on July 1.
Not surprisingly, the major industry funds have no intention of being left behind and have initiated their own communications strategies both internally and via the umbrella provided by Industry Funds Services (IFS).
The executive director of the big Australian Retirement Fund (ARF) Ian Silk, also sees communicating with employers as a priority.
However, beyond that, ARF wants its members to understand the new regime and to that end, is using its normal communication channels such as its website, to get the message across, as well as conducting information evenings.
“What is different for us this year is that we’ll be conducting a member communication evening at the Melbourne Convention Centre for Victorian members. However, this will also be accessible via a web broadcast and this is obviously something new,” he said.
“So that’s an example of what we’re doing and it’s not just about choice, but it goes hand in hand with a more competitive marketplace. We have to view it in that context,” Silk said
Though overall improvement in fund communications seems to be part and parcel of the competitive marketplace that Silk refers to, the aims within it are varied.
Susan Fairley of the Superannuation Trust of Australia (STA) sees contacting inactive members as the goal for 2005.
“Our aim is not only to promote retention of members but to achieve the reactivation of members who have retained a balance with us but have left the industry,” she said.
“Many of these people are well-disposed towards us and we want them to understand that the new choice of fund regime means they can reactivate their accounts and resume their status as active members.”
In terms of choice, many funds are riding the coat-tails of the IFS’ recent campaign to raise choice awareness, and are structuring much of their advertising accordingly.
However, even those without an association with IFS are making small moves in terms of specific choice communication.
AMP Corporate Superannuation, for instance, has developed a guide to the choice of fund legislation.
“The guide – Choice Made Easy for Employers – will provide information on what employers’ obligations will be, how this might impact their business and how AMP may be able to help,” said Healy.
AMP has already run a roadshow in December and will be looking to run follow-up shows in April and May when the final choice regulations are available.
On the other side of the fence, STA will be leveraging off the IFS campaign to raise awareness with their own materials, according to Fairley.
“In the meantime, we are trying to keep our members informed about choice and its implications by way of our half-yearly statements and magazine and, beyond that, we are doing a lot of work on our website and via our e-news,” Fairley said.
The domino effect that should result as part of the choice reshuffle won’t be seen for some months yet. In the meantime, the consensus from fund representatives seems to be that an overall upgrade of communications is needed and not a panicked focus on new legislation.
The view spoken by Ian Silk of ARF seems almost to be said with one voice: “Yes, we are spending more on communications this year, but that does not necessarily reflect a major sea change. On the contrary, we have been increasing the level of resources into that area for a number of years.”
