Super funds to rely more on robo-advice, Rice Warner says

According to Rice Warner’s Insights blog, super funds are likely to rely more on advice technology as a means to improve and expand their existing advisory services, member engagement and business intelligence.

“These include calculators covering adequacy of retirement saving, contribution optimisation, insurance needs and risk profiling,” the blog said.

“The calculators are designed to let members know their current position and how to improve that situation, effectively providing a call to action.”

Rice Warner said that the role of robo-advice, in combination with advisory services, needs to be well thought through.

“What function the technology plays, whether that is self-directed or guided, will depend on what role the funds want their financial planners to play in the value chain,” it said.

“It will benefit funds by increasing engagement levels and, in turn, will ensure insight into members' behaviours is captured via data analytics.”

Rice Warner added that robo-advice provided on a large scale could help address Australia’s low level of financial literacy, which remains despite repeated messages about the inadequacy of retirement savings.