Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, says the Australian Government’s response to the Quality of Advice Review will provide funds with more flexibility to reach members who historically haven’t been able to engage with advice.
Rest CEO Vicki Doyle said the package of reforms proposed by government would make the superannuation system fairer and more equitable by allowing more lower and middle-income Australians to benefit from simple, convenient financial advice.
“Our experience with digital advice has shown just how effectively it can deliver advice to members who traditionally have not sought financial advice, particularly young members and women,” said Ms Doyle.
“Rest has seen a sustained increase in demand for simple advice from our young members – particularly young women – during the past five years, which we’ve been able to meet with our digital tools.
“More than half of our total advice interactions in 2022 were with members under the age of 40, and nearly all of them used our digital tools.
“Put simply, we wouldn’t have seen anywhere near this many younger members engaging with advice if it wasn’t available online in a simple, convenient and single-issue format. Overall, around 90 per cent of our advice interactions with members last year came through our digital tools.
“These reforms could allow superannuation funds to expand the scope of their digital advice, and provide more members with simple, convenient advice at scale. This is a huge opportunity to help countless Australians achieve their best-possible retirement.”
Ms Doyle added that superannuation funds have an important role to ensure that Australians on lower and middle incomes are still able to access financial advice.
“We represent more than 1.9 million members, including around one million women and one million aged 30 or younger. Our members often have less complex advice needs, and would have no way to access simple advice if it wasn’t available through superannuation funds,” Ms Doyle said.
“All Australians should be able to access financial advice – regardless of their wealth or circumstances.
“The proposed reforms will provide greater flexibility and therefore provide our members with more opportunities to make informed decisions. We urge the Government to enact these changes as soon as possible.”
About Rest
Established in 1988, Rest is one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, with more than 1.9 million members and around $70 billion in funds under management as at 31 December 2022.
For further information please visit out media centre or contact:
Michael Mills
Senior Manager, Communications – Media Relations
michael.mills@rest.com.au
m: 0428 499 722
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