Aware Super confirms looming adviser cuts

Aware Super has confirmed it is currently undergoing a consultation around the structure of its advice team, which group executive for advice, Sarah Foreman, has said “regrettably … will result in some roles being made redundant”.

However, the fund has disputed reporting from The Australian Financial Review, which projected that up to 90 advisers were set to lose their jobs as a consequence.

“The changes impact the broader financial advice team which includes planning, customer service and specialist roles,” Ms Foreman said.

“Until this consultation period is finalised we cannot confirm the final impact of the changes. As part of this we are also working hard to investigate potential redeployment opportunities for impacted team members.

“On that basis, the number of impacted roles quoted in previous media reports is wrong and we expect the impact on planning roles to be significantly less by the conclusion of the consultation period.”

Aware Super had 190 advisers employed during the 2020 financial year, with total employment costs of $26 million. The number was a slight drop on the 217 advisers it had in FY19, with costs of $28 million.

However, the organisation has merged with two other funds since, having also copped a lawsuit from ASIC over the StatePlus advice business, for charging more than 36,000 members fees for no service. Aware Super merged with StatePlus in 2016.

Ms Foreman reported the new advice changes are being rolled out as a response to member demand, which the fund has seen shift away from ongoing advice contracts, towards on-demand advice.

Clients have pivoted towards advice specific to a topic with a one-off fee as well as free digital advice. The digital segment has grown from zero to more than 35,000 interactions during the last year.

"... With that in mind it’s clear that the old model simply isn’t sustainable,” Ms Foreman explained.

“As a profit-to-member fund we’re doing the right thing by managing this proactively - including through the ongoing review of our advice business and where our offices are located to ensure it reflects member demand.”

Aware Super had expanded access to its intrafund advice to more members, which is still “high quality advice based on the individual needs and circumstances of that member”, Ms Foreman said.

“It’s a completely appropriate level of advice for many of our members and we’re currently recording satisfaction rates above 95 per cent so it’s clearly working for them,” Ms Foreman said.

“That’s why we have invested in this area in particular – it’s a great solution for many of our members and by growing this team we can make the service more available to more of our members.”

Aware Super is now Australia’s second-largest fund, having managed $126.4 billion for 1.1 million members at the end of June last year. It gained another 60,0000 members with the completion of its merger with WA Super in December.

The fund recently started discussions of possibly consolidating with Victorian Independent Schools Superannuation Fund (VISSF).