From Lef

Link Group (ASX: LNK), a leading global administrator of financial ownership data, has unveiled new mobile apps and voice-recognition capability, expanding the ways investors and shareholders engage with Link Group and its clients through digital channels.

Reflecting Link Group’s ongoing investment in technology, Link Group has announced the launch of a new mobile app for the Link Investor Centre platform and a new voice-activated assistant on Google Home, both of which will make it easier for investors to manage their share portfolios.

Link Investor Centre mobile app

The new Link Investor Centre mobile app offers a secure mobile platform for retail investors to access and manage their investments.

The app allows investors to quickly access information about their shareholdings and make updates to their account such as confirming payment instructions and advising communication preferences, via their mobile phone. Users can view payment history, access details of upcoming annual general meetings and submit votes online, all with the convenience and peace of mind of fingerprint authentication and PIN security options.

The app, available in both the App Store and Google Play Store, will be rolled out in Australia and New Zealand with other markets to follow shortly.

Voice-recognition technology

Link Group has also tapped into the increasing popularity of voice-activated tools, launching natural language assistants on both Google Home and through the Link Investor Centre to enable users to verbally ask for detail and information on how to manage their shareholdings.

Investors with Link-administered shares will now be able to use Google Home or the associated Google Assistant mobile app to ask real-time questions to the Link Market Services Assistant and receive helpful information on a range of topics, such as dividend payments, selling shares and updating personal details.

“By talking to the Assistant, investors can easily and quickly obtain information, without the hassle of sifting through web pages for the answer. Our new voice-recognition technology allows you to simply ask a question to access important investor information.

“The Assistant can answer common questions, such as ‘how do I sell my shares?’ and ‘how do I know the value of my shareholdings?’ Over time, capability will expand to provide more in-depth information about an investor’s individual account details via this channel,” said Link Group’s Technology & Innovation CEO Paul Gardiner.

Voice-recognition technology aligns with Link Group’s goal of making financial information and education more readily accessible to the everyday investor.

“Link Group is continually responding to how users are choosing to communicate and giving them tools that cater to their needs. That is why we developed natural language assistants, so that investors can talk to Link Market Services anywhere, at any time,” Mr Gardiner said.

Driving investor engagement

The latest additions to Link Group’s digital capabilities provide investors with more choice in the communication channels they can employ to manage their investment portfolio.

“Link Group will continue to invest in cutting-edge technology to empower investors to play a more active role in their portfolios and to support companies in creating more meaningful interactions with their shareholders.

“The market-leading product and technology solutions we offer allow us to be a true partner for our clients,” Mr Gardiner concluded.

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Link Fund Solutions is a specialist provider of outsourced middle and back office administration, fund accounting, custodial and unit registry services to a diversified client base of fund managers, trustees and listed investment companies. It is part of the Corporate Markets division of Link Group.

Link Group’s Corporate Markets Chief Executive Officer Paul Gardiner said: “Paul’s strong background in successfully delivering for clients is an excellent fit with our expanding global network. Our acquisition of the Link Funds Solutions business in the UK and Europe from Capita in late 2017, combined with Link Group‘s strong financial position will give Paul an unenviable foundation to deliver services as we continue the organic growth of our Australian client base.”

Most recently, Mr Khoury worked for State Street Australia, where his last role was CEO, Head of Global Services Australia & New Zealand. Speaking of his appointment, Paul Khoury said “I’m delighted to be joining Link with its enviable track record of growing successful businesses by being client focussed and investing in the right technology and people. This opportunity provides me an excellent platform to leverage my industry knowledge to enable Link to drive change and shape the funds landscape in Australia.”

Mr Khoury starts with Link Fund Solutions on 21 May 2018.

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The announcement follows on from the recent strategic partnership formed between the two firms, initially focused on building new products to help superannuation fund members manage their overall wealth.

Gardiner said he looked forward to working with Moneysoft to help more Australians reach their financial and lifestyle goals.

“Superannuation is, on average, the second most valuable asset behind the family home, yet few Australians give it the attention it deserves until close to retirement. Moneysoft’s suite of budgeting and cash flow tools give super funds and financial planners the opportunity to change that by forging closer ties with their members and clients from the outset.”

Over the longer term, Moneysoft’s expertise will also help enhance the suite of products currently available to Link’s broader client base, such as listed companies, shareholders and employees.

Moneysoft Founder and Managing Director Peter Malekas said Gardiner’s appointment would bring a wealth of experience to the board.

“Moneysoft is on a strong growth trajectory as more and more financial planners and mortgage brokers recognise the benefits of offering cash flow as a service. Paul’s appointment to the board will help propel that growth by opening a range of new strategic opportunities.”

Link Group, which has also taken a stake in Moneysoft, is a global provider of fund administration, share registry, shareholder management, analytics and services. Gardiner has played a key role in building the company as Chief Executive of Link Group’s Information, Digital and Data Services division and Corporate Markets division.

Moneysoft successfully launched several new features and products in 2016, including Moneysoft Lite, giving financial planners an entry-level solution for a ‘Cash flow as a Service’ offering, as well as a tool that enhances overall practice efficiencies.

Other new features include the recent launch of the Adviser tool kit, helping with stronger and more effective business processes, as well as enhanced reporting solutions; for example, the benchmarking and capability, which allows planners to compare the spending habits of their clients against their peers.

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Link Group’s online platform enables companies to hold virtual meetings, encouraging greater shareholder engagement and accessibility. This technology is available to shareholders across the globe, offering a new and interactive channel for shareholders to participate in general meetings.

Xero, a New Zealand company dual-listed on the NZX and ASX, is the first company to use Link’s technology in Australia at its AGM last week. The platform enables shareholders to attend and participate in the AGM from the comfort of their personal computers.

Xero’s shareholder base includes investors as far away as China and the United States. The platform offered shareholders the facilities to watch the meeting in real-time, submit votes and ask questions online. Shareholders who attended the physical Xero Meeting also had the option to log in and vote with their phones instead of poll cards.

Link Group’s Information, Digital and Data CEO, Paul Gardiner said, “As we enter a new phase of shareholder communication, technology such as our online meeting platform enables shareholders to attend meetings and engage with the board in a virtual manner.

“Over 300 people from over 15 different countries logged in to Xero’s AGM last week. We are encouraged by the strong uptake of the technology offering with four further companies already committed in New Zealand and anticipate we will see more of this in the coming year.”

Xero’s Company Secretary & General Counsel, Matt Vaughan said, “With Xero’s increasingly global shareholder base, we were really excited to use Link’s technology to increase engagement with our shareholders at our Annual Meeting. Our shareholders were able to watch the meeting online around the world, while voting and asking questions in real time through the platform. We saw great attendance and participation through the platform, and are looking forward to using the technology again next year”.

The virtual meeting technology and mobile app was initially developed by Link Group for the New Zealand market following legislative communications practice amendments. New Zealand’s leading telecommunications company, Spark New Zealand, was the first company in Australasia to use the virtual meeting technology in November 2015.

Link Group is committed to developing new innovations to support shareholder engagement, working closely with listed company clients to stay ahead of market needs.

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The partnership will leverage Link Group’s technology platform to improve the customer journey for fund members by offering greater integration between their banking and superannuation. This technology platform is part of Link’s Information, Digital and Data Services division.

A central objective of the partnership is to develop a single, integrated view of members’ superannuation details within ME’s mobile banking app. Future plans will enrich the user experience for fund members who bank with ME, by utilising Link’s technology platform and data insights gained from the partnership to offer a more personalised, tailored banking and superannuation experience.

Link Group Information, Digital and Data CEO Paul Gardiner said: “We are excited to be in partnership with ME. Innovation is key to our success and this partnership with ME allows us to bring together banking and superannuation to help funds further engage with their members and ultimately help improve member retention.”

ME Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca James said: “We always think outside of the box when it comes to future innovation, and we’re looking forward to working with Link to bring some of these ideas to life and help drive member engagement for our industry super fund owners.”

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Forty seven superannuation funds representing over 4 million members have for the first time completed the successful lodgement of electronic reports to APRA as part of the new reporting standards outlined in the Stronger Super reforms.

Orient Capital, the technology solutions provider, worked collaboratively with superannuation administrators AAS and Link Super to meet the 28 October due date for APRA reporting, in what is believed to be the first successful electronic lodgement of fund reporting as part of SuperStream measures to automate the industry.

From the September quarter, APRA substantially increased the information required to be reported by superannuation funds while reducing the time funds have to report.

Paul Gardiner, Chief Operating Officer of Orient Capital, said: “What we have achieved using a complete electronic end to end solution for APRA reporting has not been achieved by any other superannuation administrator as far as we are aware. It is a testament to our staff, client focus and broad expertise of the different subsidiaries in Link Group.”

Prior to this electronic solution, reporting to APRA was a manual process involving spreadsheets. However, with the increased requirements and tighter deadlines of Stronger Super, manual processing of data to report to APRA would be an unsustainable solution.

“By using Orient Capital’s miraqle platform, we have been able to load and validate large amounts of complex accounting, investment and Trustee information and lodge via APRA’s electronic reporting portal. Funds now have access to all their data and can sign-off via the miraqle platform, making the process completely electronic,” said Mr Gardiner.

For this quarter, Orient Capital electronically reported for 47 superannuation funds, drawing information from three administration systems, three accounting systems, four custodians and multiple asset managers.

Key requirements from superannuation funds using electronic APRA reporting were usability, traceability and auditability.

Commenting on the electronic reporting experience as a client, Megan Bolton CEO of Kinetic Super said: “The provision of the miraqle APRA Reporting product by Orient Capital was a key factor in the successful submission to APRA of our reporting obligations under the new reporting standards.

“The co-ordinated import of data from the fund custodian and administrator into miraqle and the workflow built into the product enabled progress to be monitored at every stage and  the process to be completed on schedule, while the audit and traceability functionality built into miraqle provide the confidence that we are meeting APRA expectations in that area.”

Mr Gardiner said the group would continue to develop its electronic reporting solution to meet future obligations.

“We’ve worked very closely with the senior technical staff at APRA throughout this journey with a significant amount of end to end testing undertaken to ensure the best possible outcome for our clients,” he concluded.

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