- Steve Wright appointed to head Russell’s Advice Centre
- AvSuper first to go live on Russell administration platform
- New partnership with Prime Super
Global financial services firm Russell Investments today announced a number of successful developments which have supported the growth agenda for Russell’s newly enhanced member administration business.
Russell’s new administration model was officially launched in January 2011 following the firm’s decision to bring inhouse over 75 roles previously outsourced to IBM. The enhanced model offers a cost effective platform and provides superior technology and member services to Australia’s largest and most complex superannuation funds.
Steve Wright appointed to head Russell’s Advice Centre
Certified financial planner Steve Wright has been appointed to head up Russell’s Advice Centre, which was established to provide an enhanced advice offering through the new model.
Supported by a team of qualified advice professionals, Mr Wright will be responsible for providing on the spot advice to members on investment choice, contribution strategies and transition to retirement strategies. Mr Wright brings 20 years’ experience in financial services and joins Russell from Sunsuper where he was a senior financial planner.
Mr Sivakumaran, Director, Administration and Consulting Services at Russell, said Mr Wright’s appointment signalled Russell’s commitment to the delivery of limited advice.
“We firmly believe all members should have access to financial advice through superannuation and that Steve’s background and experience is a perfect fit for our model,” he said.
AvSuper successfully goes live on Russell administration platform
On 25 March, AvSuper was the first fund to go live on Russell’s new member administration model, having selected Russell to service its 6,000 members last December. AvSuper members are predominantly from aviation related industries and expect high quality, personalised service.
Michelle Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer at AvSuper, said Russell’s consultative approach was a major drawcard for the Fund and the implementation had taken place ahead of schedule with no disruptions for members.
“It’s been an extremely smooth process and we’ve been very impressed with Russell’s efficient team and personalised service. Russell’s willingness to develop a deep understanding of our business has enabled them to deliver highly customised innovative solutions that are scalable and tailored for our particular members’ needs,” Ms Griffiths said.
New partnership with Prime Super
Following a highly competitive tender process, Prime Super, Australia’s industry fund for rural and regional Australia, recently appointed Russell to deliver administration services to the fund’s 150,000 members. The new partnership will begin on 1 January 2012 and is now the second win for Russell’s new administration model.
“We have a significant growth agenda and felt Russell’s leading edge administration model was best suited to help achieve our goals,” said Lachlan Baird, CEO of Prime Super.
The new partnership will allow Prime Super to further strengthen its member and employer services and provide members with limited personal advice in relation to investment strategies, insurance and contribution strategies.
Russell’s superannuation administration business already provides services to over 230,000 individuals and includes contributions and benefit payment processing, insurance and claims management, choice of fund, financial reporting, online services, interactive voice response, call centre and financial advice.
“We have made a significant investment in infrastructure developments and we believe our model is an attractive proposition for funds looking for an administration arrangement that’s tailored to their specific needs. The fact leading funds such as AvSuper and Prime Super have chosen to partner with us confirms our expansion efforts are well on track,” said Mr Siva Sivakumaran.
With Prime Super, Russell’s members under administration increase to 370,000 members.
“In the coming months, we will be aggressively recruiting to bolster our team with over 60 people. Maintaining our high quality personal service with our clients is paramount. To support our growth plans we aim to have an administration team of 280 people by year end.“ Mr Sivakumaran concluded.