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 Group (Link) believes that by offering financial advice capabilities to members, superannuation funds enhance their value proposition. With the acquisition of Adviser Network in 2017, Link accumulated all the component parts to provide an end to end advice solution to the market. Yesterday’s announcement reflects Link’s belief in the value of advice.

Making the announcement, Suzanne Holden, CEO Link Fund Administration said: “Link is very excited about the future of our advice business. Bringing our market leading digital advice capabilities together with our experience and expertise in telephone and face to face advice, we are well positioned to help the superannuation industry to provide affordable and accessible advice options to its members.”

Duncan McPherson has been appointed to lead the business through the integration and the next phase of growth. Duncan joined the Link Group as part of the acquisition of Adviser Network in June 2017.

“I am delighted to have been appointed as CEO of Link Advice. We have two great businesses with complementary strengths. By combining our teams we’ll be able to capture their collective experience and knowledge to help more Australians access affordable advice”, he said.

Ross Bowden, currently CEO Link Advice, will assist with the transition and will leave Link at the end of June following 7 successful years with the group.

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Suzanne Holden

Link Group’s Fund Administration division, part of Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK), today announced it has signed a new five-year contract with Queensland-based Intrust Super that will provide Intrust’s members with a range of enhanced services, including ways to effortlessly boost their superannuation balances.

Intrust has almost 117,000 members and more than 18,000 employers and has been a customer of Link Group since 1988. Intrust specifically caters for the hospitality, clubs, tourism and retail sectors and designs products and services to suit that membership base.

“Link and Intrust are both deeply focussed on putting members first and driving meaningful member engagement,” said Suzanne Holden, Chief Executive Officer of Link Fund Administration.

“We will work closely with Intrust so it can continue to deliver first-rate solutions to its superannuation and pension members and employer base.

“Our scale, the adaptability of our systems and our continuous investment in innovation and analytics, allows us to grow with the needs of our superannuation fund customers, helping them better service their members, right down to making sure they benefit from the everyday transactions they make.”

Link will work with Intrust to provide its members and employer base with a raft of new tools to deliver enhanced superannuation solutions.

As part of the new agreement with Intrust, Link will:

• Provide Intrust members with a micro-investing mobile app that allows them to ‘roundup’ their everyday transactions to contribute to their fund, providing an easy and efficient way for Intrust to engage with members and help them build a healthier balance
• Provide the capability for Intrust members to change the frequency of their pension from bi-monthly to fortnightly, improving the payments cycle over the course of a year
• Provide employers with an enhanced mechanism to contribute to an Intrust member’s superannuation account.

Link’s Fund Administration division combines its proprietary technology, processes and people to deliver a comprehensive financial data solution to its superannuation clients, servicing an underlying stakeholder base of approximately 10 million superannuation account holders.

“We support clients across all superannuation fund sectors, including government, industry, retail and corporate,” said Ms Holden.

“Our goal is to offer the most comprehensive fund administration solution on the market, allowing Funds to tailor their member experience and members to fully engage with their superannuation fund.”

Intrust is headquartered in Brisbane and has around $2.3 billion in assets under management.

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Suzanne Holden

Australian super funds plan to substantially increase their spend on technology in 2016 as funds grapple with the challenges and opportunities presented by rapid technological change, according to Australia’s leading technology-enabled outsourced superannuation administrator Link Group.

A survey of major super fund CEOs recently conducted by Link Group shows that 92% of funds expect to spend more on technology in 2016 compared to 2015 – with 62% of respondents looking to spend an additional 20% or more next year. Responses were drawn from funds representing more than 3.5 million Australians and over $97 billion in super assets.

Enhanced member application processes and other digital innovations were nominated as the key focus for the increased spend (69% of respondents) as funds compete to present the most comprehensive and user-friendly offer to members.

Mobile innovations were predicted to be the key disruptor in 2016 (33% of respondents), followed by data personalisation (25%), aggregators of wealth management (25%) and online digital or robo advice (17%).

The majority of fund CEOs said keeping up with technological change – in terms of being able to deliver a competitive overall offering to members – was a top three element to get right (62%), with 38% saying it was just one of many elements to get right.

Recently listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Link Group administers financial ownership data and drives user engagement through technology. The group provides technology solutions and member administration services to many of Australia’s largest superannuation funds.

Speaking at the annual Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) conference in Brisbane today*, CEO of Link Group Fund Administration, Suzanne Holden, said technology decisions continued to be front and centre for fund CEOs.

“Using technology to transform a business is easier said than done. Internal change management is as much driven by innovation internally as it is by customer innovation,” Ms Holden said.

“Technology – both in terms of internal and customer facing – and its role in change management is clearly front of mind for most CEOs. Businesses are often facing tough competition and cost pressures. This can require an ongoing investment in technology to deliver results.

“At Link, we have a clear focus on internal improvements – reducing our reliance on paper, in addition to investing in technology and systems that deliver results for our clients”.

Link Group mobile app makes super more accessible

Link Group recently launched a mobile app that enables members to conveniently manage all aspects of their superannuation account, in real-time, on their mobile phone.

Available for both iOS and Android, the app provides superannuation funds with a mobile channel to help drive member engagement and keep funds on the front foot of technological change.

With full, real-time transactional capability, the app allows fund members to choose how they interact with their superannuation account. Live mobile access encourages more frequent and timely interaction by the member, making the members’ superannuation more relevant to their daily life.

Ms Holden said in today’s mobile-dependent world, members increasingly expect instant access to all of their financial information.

“Tapping in to the smart phone as a medium for member engagement is a way we can make super funds more relevant to members, and fund executives recognise this.

“Technology is vital for business transformation and innovation, and we expect emerging technology, particularly mobile access for members, will become even more of a focus in the coming year,” Ms Holden added.

*ASFA Conference Plenary session Thursday 26 November 10.40am-12.10am — Change leadership: the role of technology for business transformation and innovation.

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More sophisticated methods expected for future super member communication.

Digital channels will play a substantially greater role in member engagement over the coming three years, with more complex websites and email correspondence overtaking paper and face to face communication.

Link Group is Australia’s leading super administrator providing member services for around 4.5 million Australians. This month Link surveyed the CEOs, CFOs and fund executives of its largest super fund clients, asking their views on how they will engage with members in the coming three years, and the changing drivers of digital engagement including social media. The responding funds represent more than three million members.

Speaking at the annual Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia conference in Perth yesterday, Link Chief Operating Officer  told delegates that the vast majority of (80%) respondents believe the best digital channel to engage members is the fund’s website.

This is in line with member statistics from Link Group which show the number of website visits per day increased a whopping 48 per cent between December 2009 and December 2012. The trend coincides with a strong increase in inbound emails from members of approximately 38% for the two year period to July 2013.

“Most superannuation funds are finding the website as the main digital touch point for members to consume information and transact, but members are also increasingly starting the conversation with funds via email.  Our administrator teams are also seeing increasingly complex email and phone inquiries which points to members becoming more confident, savvy and educated,” Ms Holden said.

While the majority of fund respondents said member engagement was currently being driven through face-to-face (70%) and paper collateral (80%), 80% of those surveyed agreed this was likely to change over the next three years as digital channels become increasingly important in attracting and retaining members.

Interestingly, despite this understanding of digital media changing how funds engage with members, only 30% believed social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) would be a key driver of engagement in the future – however 80% believed these channels were required to monitor customer complaints and better understand the conversation.

“We can see that digital encompasses a variety of channels, not just social media. Social media can be a channel to further enhance member engagement and experience but for most funds, the priority still remains on the website, online forms and search engine optimisation,” Ms Holden added.

Half the funds surveyed had never used social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or other content channels such as YouTube or podcasts.

“Social media may not be the main point of contact for member engagement for funds in the future but the survey respondents all agreed its influence is likely to increase over time. This represents a potential gap in the market as another communications channel for funds to engage with members,” Ms Holden said.

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