Some members are excited for retirement, while others approach it with a “real sense of shame and fear”. Funds are going to have to figure out how to cater to both groups or risk failing them all.
If there’s one lesson for investors from the past five years, it’s that chopping and changing their strategy – even in the face of massive market turmoil – doesn’t always pay.
Link completes big admin transition
Link Group, the diversified Australian super fund administrator, has completed the largest-ever migration of super fund members in Australia’s admin history, with about two million members of AustralianSuper on the Link ‘aaspire’ platform as of last week.
The transition, which was made ahead of schedule and within budget, Link says, is the company’s ninth fund transition in the past 14 months, and completes the successful migration of over five million individual super members. It follows the acquisition of the industry fund-owned SuperPartners in 2015.
Suzanne Holden, chief executive of Link Group’s fund administration business, said: “This achievement is substantial and is a strong reflection of the Link Group culture and the success it can achieve. I have been very pleased with the integration along with our ability to remain focused during this transformational year for Link Group.”
Five of the nine funds – MTAA Super, HESTA, Host-Plus, Cbus and AustralianSuper – were transitioned as part of the SuperPartners acquisition, announced in December 2014. The completion of the transition phase triggers the next round of business synergies as Link prepares to archive legacy data and switch off the SuperPartners platform.
In addition to the transition program, the past 12 months has seen Link list on the ASX and consolidate its three Melbourne-based premises into one newly built location in Collins Square.
John McMurtrie, Link’s managing director said realising the synergies from the integration of the SuperPartners business was only one of many drivers of growth for the company.
“The acquisition of SuperPartners was a significant milestone for the business and it is testament to the team’s technical proficiency and professionalism that we could transition such a significant amount of personal information with minimal disruption to superannuation members, employers and other key stakeholders.”
The sleepy world of fund administration has recently had a flurry of activity. Not only has Link cemented its position as clear leader in the admin field, also Mercer is set to approximately quadruple its market share – albeit from a very low base of about 2 per cent – with the acquisition of the NSW Government’s Pillar Administration.
