Josh Barton

The current inflationary environment has prompted more than half of Australians to rethink their retirement, with potential consequences for Australia’s $3.5 trillion superannuation sector and future workforce, according to the 2023 MFS Global Defined Contribution Survey.

In step with global investors, 59% of Australians surveyed said that inflation had prompted them to change their thinking about retirement in the past 12 months, with 54% opting for a more conservative investment approach. The vast majority (74%), said they would now need to save more than they previously planned, 61% said they would need to work for longer and 40% no longer see themselves as retiring at all. 

The effects of inflation were found to have had a greater impact on retirement confidence than the market events of the past three years, including COVID, with 35% citing the latter as among the reasons for no longer believing they will ever retire.

The 2023 MFS Global Retirement Survey, which interviewed 1,000 Australian superannuants as part of a global survey spanning members of retirement plans across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, found that only 26% of local respondents were confident they would be able to retire at the time and age of their choosing.

According to the findings of the survey, the age Australians expect to retire remains unchanged, 66 years, with most (68%) envisioning a more gradual transition in which they reduce hours or switch jobs and some (15%) expecting a hard stop as they cease working for a salary.

Australians want in-person advice and online support for retirement saving and planning

Family and friends remain key to the search for advice, cited by 36% of respondents as a source for advisor introductions. Twenty-eight percent turned to their employers to find an advisor.

In terms of preferred advice delivery, 33% of Australians want in-person or video contact with a human advisor. But online tools such as retirement calculators are popular, cited by 27%, and there is increasing interest in online financial publications, videos, and podcasts. Responses show that pure robo-advice is struggling for traction at 5% while 13% are not interested in any form of advice.

Demand for ESG in investments offered within retirement plans has waned but remains high

Australians are still interested in seeing more ESG investments offered in their retirement plans, though demand has waned to 76% from 81% in 2022. ESG demand continues to be inversely correlated with age, with most demand being driven by millennials, a persisting global trend.

Joshua Barton, Managing Director and Head of Australia and New Zealand, commented on the findings: ‘While the loss of retirement confidence in Australia is in line with global peers, it highlights the role that effective advice can play in helping investors meet their retirement objectives. We need to continue to open pathways to advice across the superannuation system, including through superannuation funds and employers and new technologies to support Australia’s sophisticated yet smaller advice market. This is particularly important as the industry readies for superannuation’s historic transition from savings accumulation to income drawdown; we must embrace the regulatory and legislative relief changes geared towards delivering better financial outcomes that can help insulate retirees, current and future, from market cycle stress.’

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Matt Lawler

Following record quarterly inflows to Platform Services ($310m for December 2016 quarter), OneVue continues to attract new clients.

Executive General Manager for Wealth Management Services, Matt Lawler, commented, “OneVue’s focus on developing a contemporary platform and managed account solution is garnering traction in the market especially after launching the FUND.eXchange initiative late last year.”

“We are proud to have been chosen as partners by MGD Wealth, Prosperum Wealth and a significant ‘Profit for member’ organisation. For these partners our solution improves practice efficiencies that will include their own managed account model portfolios.”

MGD Wealth

MGD Wealth is a Queensland based specialist provider of integrated financial advice solutions to business owners, professionals, high-income earners, self-funded investors and professional advisers. The wealth business has $600m in Funds under Advice across wealth management, risk & succession, SMSF and tax. The Group will support two platforms including OneVue.

John Barton, CEO MGD Wealth said: “We have a clear strategic plan to grow MGD Wealth both in QLD and along the eastern seaboard. To underpin this growth we need a portfolio administration business that offers competitively priced, quality client service outcomes. In addition we needed a partner that supported our internal model portfolio execution through a series of unitised implemented portfolios.
We are already a OneVue client using their unit registry and portfolio construction services and are excited to extend that partnership in a comprehensive way. We also see the opportunity of leveraging the FUND.eXchange to deliver significant benefits to our clients.”

Prosperum Wealth

Prosperum Wealth is a Melbourne-based boutique advisory firm servicing a select number of like-minded clients. The Group is a fast growing business recently established by high profile financial services professionals.

Prosperum Wealth Managing Director, Scott Brouwer said: “We decided to take a fresh approach when assessing how to deliver effective portfolio solutions for our clients. We were fortunate to tap into the expertise of specialist managed account investment solutions group, Watershed Funds Management. They helped us navigate the market to select a contemporary platform that would support the complex nature of our investment solutions in a simplistic manner for our advisers and direct clients. We found this partner in OneVue.”

“Profit for Member” firm

OneVue has been appointed by a well-established “Profit for Member” organisation to provide a white label of the OneVue platform to meet the growing demands of their members.

Matt Lawler added “MGD Wealth and Prosperum Wealth are two quality advisory firms and we are excited to partner with them. To also be selected by a “Profit for Member” organisation is significant as it demonstrates OneVue’s capabilities, including the FUND.eXchange, are valued by a growing number of market participants.”

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