Chant West, in partnership with Conexus Financial, will present its second annual superannuation and pension awards on May 21. The winners will be announced at a black-tie function at the Ivy Ballroom, Sydney, co- hosted by Conexus Financial, publisher of Professional Planner and Investment Magazine.
Once again, Chant West will take its deep industry knowledge and expertise and apply it publicly to recognise achievement and excellence in the superannuation industry.
Chant West director Warren Chant says: “The aim of these awards is to help lift standards across the board, and we do that by highlighting what the winners have done to stand out from their peers. Ultimately, the people who will benefit are individual fund members who will achieve better outcomes from their super.”
Chant says the rationale for the 2014 awards remains unchanged from 2013, but “there are some important variations in the awards this year”.
“These are primarily to reflect the introduction of MySuper, which came into full force from January 2014,” he says.
“MySuper has changed the landscape completely. Some providers have introduced brand new products, some have ‘tweaked’ their existing funds to be more competitive while others haven’t changed at all. Most of what has changed has been in fees and investments, but there have also been changes in fund design.”
Chant says that many funds have introduced “lifecycle” products.
“While there is still much debate about the suitability of different designs, they are certainly an innovation for the industry and a step in the right direction. That’s why we’ve introduced an innovation award this year,” he says.
“Investments have also been affected by MySuper. It has been interesting to see just how much funds have changed their approach to investing because of the need to offer a so-called ‘simple, low cost’ product. To meet this challenge, many retail funds in particular have launched products that are substantially passively managed. The question is: Will they perform as well as the highly successful default options of industry funds that are substantially actively managed and very well diversified? All of these issues will come into the mix in determining which funds are the best.
“From a member services perspective, retirement calculators are becoming increasingly important in helping members understand their retirement goals and whether they are on track to achieve them. The best funds provide their members with user-friendly calculators they can use to model their situation realistically and make the right decisions to achieve their goals.
“The best funds then go a step further and use this functionality to show members on their annual statement whether or not they are likely to have a retirement income gap – for example, whether they’re likely to end up with an income that is less than they need to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Funds that embrace this approach to helping members fare well in Chant West’s evaluation process.
“What hasn’t changed this year is that the awards are going to be meaningful to the funds themselves and to their members. We will explain what it was that got each winner across the line, and what made them that little bit better than other funds.”
Please click the link below to register to attend the Chant West | Conexus Financial 2014 Super Fund Awards evening.
All the finalists, all the categories
Finalists: Super Fund of the Year (alphabetical order)
AustralianSuper
CareSuper
Equip
HOSTPLUS
MLC MasterKey Business Super
Plum Superannuation fund
QSuper
REST
Sunsuper
TelstraSuper
UniSuper
Finalists: Pension Fund of the Year (alphabetical order)
AMP Flexible Super
Asgard Infinity eWrap
AustralianSuper
Colonial First State FirstChoice Wholesale Pension
HESTA
MLC MasterKey Pension Fundamentals
QSuper
REST
Sunsuper
UniSuper
Finalists: Corporate Solutions Fund of the Year (alphabetical order)
AMP SignatureSuper
Equip
Mercer Super Trust
MLC MasterKey Business Super
Plum Superannuation Fund
Sunsuper
Finalists: Advised Product of the Year (alphabetical order)
AMP Flexible Super
Asgard Infinity eWrap
BT Super for Life
Colonial First State FirstChoice Wholesale Super
MLC MasterKey Super Fundamentals
Finalists: Asset Consultant of the Year (alphabetical order)
Frontier Advisors
JANA Investment Advisers
Mercer Investments
Russell Investments
Towers Watson
Finalists: Best Fund – Investments (alphabetical order)
AustralianSuper
CareSuper
Catholic Super
Commonwealth Bank Group Super
Cbus
Equip
HOSTPLUS
REST
TelstraSuper
UniSuper
Finalists: Best Fund – Innovation (alphabetical order)
AMP SignatureSuper
ANZ Smart Choice
BT Super for Life
Mercer Super Trust
QSuper
Suncorp Everyday Super
Finalists: Best Fund – Member Services (alphabetical order)
AMP SignatureSuper
AustralianSuper
Cbus
HOSTPLUS
MLC MasterKey Business Super
Plum Superannuation Fund
QSuper
REST
Sunsuper
TelstraSuper
UniSuper
Finalists: Best Fund – Longevity Product (alphabetical order)
AMP North Personal Pension
Challenger Guaranteed Annuity (Liquid Lifetime)
MLC MasterKey Investment Protection
MTAA Super RetireSafe
QSuper Guaranteed Term Annuity
Finalists: Best Fund – Integrity (alphabetical order)
AMP SignatureSuper
BT Lifetime Employer Super
Mercer Super Trust
MLC MasterKey Business Super
Plum Superannuation Fund
Russell SuperSolution
Source: Chant West
