A year after partnering with SunGard to oversee its in-house administration system, superannuation fund Sunsuper has completed a major upgrade of its technology platforms.
The Omni system, which is the $14 billion fund's record-keeping system, has been improved as has the EXP system. This system allows staff to manage tasks though workflow.
Sunsuper IT and operational capability general manager Francis Cox said the upgrade would make it easier to manage tasks through workflow and drive efficiency.
"The version of the foundational products that we were using was about five years old, so when we engaged what was a majority 21 months program, that has updated and refreshed the entire suite," Cox said.
The update will also mean better value for money for members.
"Our administration costs stopped rising with the market some years ago and have now levelled out. Next year we expect our costs to reduce in the administration space, so there could be lower fees for members and enhanced benefits for the same fees," Cox said.
In late 2008, Sunsuper bought ex-CitiStreet Australia's CSA Retirement Services and renamed it Precision Administration Services. As a result, the fund partnered with SunGard for product development.
Sunsuper will now work with SunGard to create knowledge management products that will take workflow processes out of isolation and make information more visible across the whole organisation, with the potential of taking it to other industry funds.
"Along with the refactoring of the capability for Sunsuper, which helps them solve a business problem, it also allows us to take our other services or products out to the other funds in the market," SunGard Asia-Pacific managing director John Vander Vennet said.
Cox said Sunsuper was one of the first funds to take administration back in-house.
"Other funds are looking to see if we make a success of it as it has a lot of advantages such as speed to market, control and access to key information, which an outsourced administrator may not share with the fund," he said.
