Steve Travis

Estate planning services will be a key gateway for driving greater engagement from super fund members in their savings and retirement, says Aware Super, as it expands its online wills service after a successful pilot program.

Aware launched its estate planning pilot in January 2025, in partnership with industry experts SafeWill, and recently made the service available to all members, which includes a simple will at no additional cost to their Aware membership.

Group Executive Member Growth Steven Travis said early take-up of online wills had exceeded expectations.

“The need for a robust and accessible online estate planning solution is immense,” Mr Travis said.

“It’s estimated $5 trillion will be passed down to the following generations over the next two decades¹ and there’s widespread understanding of the importance of having a legal will, yet up to 60 per cent of Australians don’t have one.

“Enabling our members to start their estate planning journey online, in their own time and with no additional fees for a simple will, substantially lowers the barriers to getting started.”

Mr Travis said super funds were in a unique position to reach millions of Australians with a message about the importance of estate planning, drive will uptake, and leverage that to open a broader conversation around savings and retirement.

“We believe estate planning will be an important gateway to encouraging our members to engage with their broader financial plan, including for their super and retirement,” Mr Travis said.

Aware Super has carefully integrated estate planning into the member journey, encouraging members to take other positive financial steps, such as updating the nominated beneficiaries of their super death benefit, consolidating their super, reviewing their insurances or booking an appointment with a financial adviser.

“These behavioural `nudges’ can be effective at motivating members to take other positive financial steps,” Mr Travis said.

Founder and chief executive of Safewill Adam Lubofsky said estate planning was deeply connected to other important decisions people make about their lives and families. ”Integrating it into super helps make those decisions simpler and more connected to their long-term financial future,” he said.

All Aware Super members can create a simple, legal will at no additional cost, with the process typically taking about 20 minutes to complete.

Additional services are available for a small fee, including a customised will for members with more complex estates and the option to create a power of attorney.

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Michelle Lusty

Financial services technology provider Bravura Solutions has reported strong growth of its Midwinter digital advice platform as Australian superannuation funds and enterprises improve member access to real-time financial tools and advice.

Future Group is the latest superannuation fund to partner with Bravura with the initial phase of its digital advice rollout now underway. Offering members pre-retirement personal advice tools, and a public-facing calculator the solution is designed to help members better understand their financial position as they approach retirement.

Roshan Singappuli, General Manager, Partnerships and Advice, Future Group: “We’re thrilled to kick off this important initiative with Bravura. It’s a critical step in supporting our members as they approach retirement. The collaboration and shared innovation between our teams so far has been outstanding.”

AIA Financial Wellbeing, a financial advice business launched by AIA Australia in 2021, has also been collaborating with Bravura to build an Industry-First Digital Insurance Needs Analysis Tool. Using Midwinter technology, the Tool will enable AIA Financial Wellbeing to provide a personalised, adviser-led insurance experience for its customers, including a digital fact find and real-time modelling to streamline the advice process for both advisers and clients.

Pina Sciarrone, Chief Retail Insurance and Advice Officer, AIA Financial Wellbeing: “By integrating data with our advice technology, we’re reducing duplication, saving valuable time, and significantly accelerating the path to a completed Statement of Advice. This intuitive solution empowers advisers to help clients better understand and take control of their insurance needs, enabling them to visualise real-time outcomes in a way that builds confidence and clarity.”

Bravura deepens sector-wide adoption of its Midwinter technology for digital advice

These developments combined with undertakings amongst other major Australian superannuation funds deepen the adoption of Midwinter technology and reflects an intensifying race to deliver accessible, scalable, and personalised financial advice. AMP, Aware Super and Rest have all ramped up Midwinter-based initiatives this year to support members with more accessible, real-time financial advice.

Aware Super is further expanding its suite of digital tools following the exceptional results achieved since launching its My Retirement Planner (MRP) in 2023. Since then, more than 132,000 members have accessed the tool, with a total of 300,000 users. Nearly 100,000 Statements of Advice have been generated and 84% report high levels of retirement confidence after using the tool.

Steven Travis, Group Executive, Member Growth, Aware Super: “We’ve seen positive behavioural changes among members. Members using the tools are growing their contributions and are twice as likely to consolidate their super. We’ve also observed a significant reduction in member exits. These results highlight the power of Aware Super’s digital advice offerings in helping our members engage with their super and feel more confident and in control of their retirement outcomes.”

AMP has expanded its digital advice capability with Bravura and is now offering members 24/7 access to personalised investment and contribution advice, lifetime retirement projections as well as automated production of Statements of Advice – all guiding members to confidently make more informed decisions.

Andrea Boss, General Manager – Advice & Member Engagement, AMP: “Since launching on 31January, over 16,000 members have engaged with our digital advice service, driving a 10-fold increase in the number of members seeking retirement guidance. Our collaboration with Bravura via Midwinter Digital Advice is enabling us to deliver tailored advice at scale.”

Rest Super has scaled up its digital advice for its 2 million members. Building on its collaboration with Bravura that dates to 2017, and the success of its Retirement Health Check tool, Rest has continued to uplift its digital advice offering and personal advice capabilities with automatically generated Statements of Advice (SOAs). Rest has made these available through both member self-service and adviser-assisted channels.

Andrew Ford, General Manager, Brand & Member Experience, says: “Digital advice is central to making super simpler for our more than 2 million members. “The right advice at the right time can have a profound impact on our members’ retirement outcomes. Typically, our digital tools are used by our members around 30,000 times per year, making up around 80% of all our advice interactions. We wouldn’t have seen anywhere near this number of members engaging with advice if it wasn’t available online in a simple, convenient way.”

Bravura says accelerated and sector-wide adoption of its Midwinter technology reflects strong and collective progress towards closing the advice gap and improving retirement outcomes for millions of Australians.

Michelle Lusty, Head of Midwinter Advice Products at Bravura Solutions: “We’re witnessing a transformational shift in how Australians access retirement planning advice. By collaborating with forward-thinking funds, we’re helping millions of Australians to engage advice in a way that suits their individual needs, ultimately improving their retirement outcomes while strengthening trust in the system.”

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