Greg Sword

DST, a global provider of strategically unified data management, business processing, and customer communication solutions today announced that industry superannuation fund LUCRF Super is utilising DST Bluedoor’s software solutions to successfully meet SuperStream requirements.

LUCRF (Labour Union Co-operative Retirement Fund) Super has implemented DST Bluedoor’s technology to help increase productivity, particularly in the areas of member contribution processing and the maintenance of member accounts. LUCRF has also used DST Bluedoor’s solution to launch a mobile application that allows its members to better manage their superannuation.

Established in 1978 as Australia’s first industry fund, LUCRF has approximately $4 billion in funds under management through its accumulation and pension products. The industry super fund currently has more than 180,000 members and over 16,000 participating employers.

DST Bluedoor, a leading provider of IT solutions for the wealth management industry, has separately developed a messaging gateway and clearing house solution for LUCRF, enabling the fund to run its own gateway and clearing house and integrate those processes to employers at no cost.  Currently, LUCRF is the only fund running its own gateway and clearing house.

Martin Spedding, CEO of DST Bluedoor said LUCRF’s decision to choose DST Bluedoor technology has allowed the fund to set new standards in productivity and helped them to gain a competitive edge over other super funds in terms of its technological capabilities.

“LUCRF has used the DST Bluedoor platform to implement key SuperStream regulatory changes and improve overall efficiency and productivity,” Mr Spedding said. “Bluedoor SuperStream’s extremely flexible design removes the need for organisations to depend on bespoke applications by delivering a complete messaging infrastructure.”

DST Bluedoor’s SuperStream solution was developed and launched in 2013 in response to the Stronger Super reforms. Designed to be a complete messaging solution for superannuation providers to act as their own gateway/hub, DST Bluedoor SuperStream enables its users to send and receive compliant messages and connect with any of the SuperStream gateway providers with no interruption to the back office.

Greg Sword, Chief Executive of LUCRF Super, said the super fund is forging ahead with the use of DST Bluedoor’s technology.

“Before Bluedoor we had over 40 employees processing superannuation contributions,” Mr Sword said. “That number has now dropped to 14. We’ve adopted the DST Bluedoor technology at much less cost than if we outsourced these solutions and, just as importantly, we can control the quality of our operations.”

From 1 July this year, the clearing house solution will become operational, allowing LUCRF to receive a single contribution file from employers and match multiple contribution files against payment records. Using SuperStream data and payment standards, LUCRF’s clearing house can then forward contribution files to the relevant superannuation fund and forward payment files to the banking system.

“We are using the Bluedoor solution to meet SuperStream mandatory messaging requirements, processing rollovers electronically, and in July we will roll out contributions using the SuperStream data and payment standards,” said Mr Sword.

In March 2014, the fund rolled out the LUCRF Mobile App for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, using Bluedoor mobile app functionality. LUCRF Super Mobile App gives members direct access to their account details so they can check their super balances, track their contributions history, and check how their investments are performing.

“We have plans to develop the app so that members can transact and change their investment choices in the registry system automatically and in real time,” said Mr Sword. “DST Bluedoor has given us the capability to offer members many more investment choices, and it administers those investment choices that members make systematically, so it doesn’t eat up our resources.”

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LUCRF Super is Australia’s first industry super fund, with over 184,000 members and more than $2.8 billion in funds under management.

Launched in July 2009 as part of Aviva Investors absolute return range, the Aviva Investors Absolute T250 Bond Fund targets low volatility and low correlation to traditional bond and equity markets by applying a macro fixed income strategy focused on global sovereign bond markets and interest rate disparities.

Managed by Shahid Ikram, Deputy CIO – Fixed Income at Aviva Investors,the fund targets an absolute return before fees of 3 month EURIBOR plus 2.5 percent and invests on both a long and short basis, offering investors the potential to profit from falling, as well as rising, asset prices.

Craig Bingham, Chief Executive, Aviva Investors Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted that LUCRF Super has awarded us this important mandate. The Aviva Investors Absolute T250 Bond Fund has an interesting approach in today’s challenging market conditions, as it can adapt to changing macro-economic circumstances and thus potentially outperform in falling markets. We are proud to be working with LUCRF Super and look forward to meeting the needs of their investors.”

Ben Samild, Head of Investment Strategy at LUCRF Super, commented: “We are looking forward to working with Aviva Investors, a firm which demonstrates both global strength and local market expertise. The firm’s Absolute T250 Bond Fund has impressive downside risk management and low correlation to traditional bond and equity markets, making it a good fit for our long-term investment objectives.”

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