Retirement incomes III: deconstructed annuities
In this series of Trialogues on retirement incomes we have run through a range of product propositions available to providers; first came account-based pensions (where all the money is), followed by guaranteed income solutions (variable annuities). In this, the third and final instalment, we look at non-guaranteed options which we’ve called ‘deconstructed annuities’ for reasons […]
Read more...Retirement incomes II – guaranteed lifetime income
A steady stream of international visitors passes through our office each year on a fact-finding mission to identify potential opportunities in Australia – one of the world’s largest pension markets. Almost without exception those visitors express surprise that despite leading the world in solving the problem of retirement adequacy, Australia lags so far behind other developed […]
Read more...Retirement Incomes – Part I
It is well understood that the superannuation system, ostensibly created to generate incomes in retirement, has really been developed with a focus on accumulating balances rather than income streams. A necessary reorientation is now underway across the industry but the optimal retirement income solution is not yet evident. Over the next three weeks we will […]
Read more...Falling member numbers mean not-for-profit funds face pressure to raise fees
After a delay of almost three months, APRA recently released its fund-level superannuation statistics (which means subscribers our Tria Super Funds Review will have recently received a supplementary update). While assets were up strongly during 2014, there was less good news for growth in member numbers. Total member numbers in the Tria large funds universe […]
Read more...Are we failing in product development?
Last week we emphasised the value of a strong product function and outlined a number of markers to identify high quality, successful product teams. The primary focus of most product teams is in product management – a critically important function. Products require constant tinkering in order to keep up with regulatory and tax changes and […]
Read more...What is “best practice” when it comes to product?
We are seeing more and more interest from clients in how best to resource and run product teams – one of our recent Trialogue editions ‘How long does Product development take’ was one of our most popular pieces yet. Clearly our readers, like the Tria team, are true believers in the importance of Product to […]
Read more...Is wealth moving to the freemium model?
Price is just one of marketing’s four Ps, but a critical one for obvious reasons. Among other things, price determines how much can be paid for distribution, it affects perceptions of quality and – clearly – has a big impact on profitability. So what happens when a competitor starts offering a product very similar to […]
Read more...The BT Equity Income Series – Can complexity sell?
Source: Tria Investment Partners Managed Funds Review December 2014, Morningstar In 2012 BTIM launched its direct to market Equity Income Series, two funds targeting the pre- and post-retirement sectors. The funds were launched with a flourish of targeted marketing materials and communications designed to communicate the benefits to investors. Going against the post-GFC trend towards […]
Read more...Is Trowbridge fixing a problem that doesn’t exist?
As the life insurance industry counts down toward the deadline for resolving adviser remuneration for life insurance, like many in the industry we are asking ourselves – how did it come to this? We see two primary issues the insurance industry needs to resolve: The quality of advice provided to clients and the resulting quality […]
Read more...Internalisation: the end of the world as we know it?
Many of Australia’s largest super funds have been progressively increasing headcount in their internal investment teams. Some have very rapidly built out their teams – although this is more the exception than the rule – and AustralianSuper is the first with an internal investment team of more than 100 staff. Asset managers are wondering: how […]
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