Over a million members of $160 billion Aware Super are set to benefit from its digital transformation as the fund finalises a successful migration to a new digital platform.
The migration to the Bravura Sonata Alta platform sees the phasing out of paper-based legacy systems and will help cut costs and fees while delivering on member services.
The fund first signed a long-term contract for the implementation of Bravura products, including Sonata Alta, in late 2020.
Over 850,000 accounts, 50 million documents, and 1.5 billion transactions have now been migrated to the new in-house platform.
“Superannuation and pension funds are long overdue for digital transformation,” said Aware Super chief executive, Deanne Stewart.
“To stay competitive and meet new regulations they need to give members the kind of intuitive digital experience consumers now expect everywhere else in the global economy.
“The key prize we’ve achieved for Aware Super members is a single platform that allows us to personalise and control the member experience from end-to-end so that they can now transact and get help digitally for all their needs.
“This gives us unprecedented ability to help members how they need, when they need, whenever they want, by providing a simple and intuitive interface, sight of all their investments, and more control – but at a lower cost to serve.”
Among other benefits, members will have more direct oversight of their super and control over their retirement planning through a digital portal that will include real-time ‘parcel tracking’ of transactions and a reduction in transaction processing times.
Stewart added that the digital transformation using Sonata Alta BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) platform was “integral” to assist in realising the benefits of scale achieved through mergers with First State Super, VicSuper, WA Super, and StatePlus.
“This project is evidence of Aware Super’s deep experience of safely delivering large, complex changes. Our foundational merger between First State Super and VicSuper was the largest in the industry at the time, and delivering this transformation is a further celebration of our team’s expertise in safely delivering highly complex projects successfully,” she said.
“Like other large financial institutions, we’re striving to move faster against the backdrop of fintech start-ups and heightened customer expectations, despite the super industry being a long-term, typically low-touchpoint service for members.”
For the year ended 30 June 2023, the fund’s default MySuper Lifecycle option delivered 10.7 per cent.
Super funds have built on early financial year momentum, as growth funds deliver strong results driven by equities and resilient bonds.
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Rest has joined forces with alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital, co-investing in a real estate trust, with the aim of capitalising on systemic changes in debt financing.
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.