Colonial First State (CFS) is in the process of making its existing FirstChoice Employer Superannuation product compliant with the MySuper reforms, and it could offer a life-cycle investment strategy, according to CFS general manager of product and channel development Peter Chun.
The wealth manager is examining different investment options for its employer super fund and is still undecided on the make-up of its MySuper product.
"We're going through the process of converting FirstChoice Employer Super into a MySuper-compliant fund. We're exploring different investment strategies, including the potential to offer life-cycle investment strategies," Chun said.
"We're exploring an option not dissimilar to the BT [Super For Life] product offered via Westpac.
"But we haven't made a final decision on what we'll come out with."
A life-cycle investment strategy automatically places super members into a default option based on their age and expected year of retirement.
The fund automatically adjusts the member's asset allocation towards less risky assets as they get older.
BT's Super for Life product is an example of a relatively low-fee life-cycle product, with members charged a 0.99 per cent a year management fee and a $5 per month administration fee.
Regarding CFS's platform products, FirstWrap and FirstChoice, Chun said there would not be any changes ahead of 1 July 2013, when the MySuper changes will come into effect.
"In terms of Future of Financial Advice legislation, we're already compliant. Both platforms are both very competitively priced and we don't believe we need to have any plans to drop fees on those," he said.
The retirement market was one of the most important to the fund manager and recent changes were aimed at enhancing its product range, he said.
"For us, it's a very important customer segment. We've got some interesting developments on allocated pensions products and some new tools we're offering financial advisers on how they can help retirees," he said.
"We're building out our investment options range to appeal to retirees, including adding fixed-rate products and also inflation-protection products through our FirstChoice brand."
In July, CFS will introduce two specific reporting enhancements to help financial advisers service their retiree clients in its FirstChoice Pension offering.
These tools are the new Pension Balance Tracker and the Pension Income Report.
"In times of current volatility, these additional reports add significant value to advisers by demonstrating the income generation of the client's portfolio, as well as assisting them to manage pension cash flow," Chun said.
"Going forward we continue to focus on developing new and innovative investment solutions to address the needs and preferences of the retiree customer base."
