Despite their relatively untapped and large member bases, the financial planning arms of major super funds still view dealer groups as stiff competition. "Our main business is focusing on retention of clients in the Local Government Superannuation Scheme (LGSS) and Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme (EISS)," FuturePlus Financial Services chief executive officer Jim Thomas says.
"We are in the middle of a demographic hump in terms of people retiring and we are retaining 75 per cent of our members." However, by using targeted marketing campaigns and hosting seminars for members close to retirement, FuturePlus is taking a multi-faceted approach to its future. Thomas says through the Chifley brand, the business does compete in the broader financial planning space because it services the general public. However, he says this is also the case with LGSS and EISS members.
"We do compete with the whole spectrum of the financial planning industry," he says. Further, he says of the members that have left the fund, there is no one particular dealer group they are going to, so it is open competition. Telstra Super Financial Planning also has a similar focus on client retention. General manager Steve Grinter says since the establishment of the business five years ago, Telstra Super Financial Planning has only serviced 17 per cent of Telstra employees, but it has retained 85-90 per cent of these members.
"We don't go out and gather anyone. They are mostly coming to us through word of mouth," Grinter says. Telstra Super currently employs 20 financial planners, with this split into retirement planners and wealth creation planners for the younger members. FuturePlus currently employs 27 financial planners. Grinter says Telstra Super Financial Planning is not recruiting any new planners as it prefers to grow internally by developing associate financial planners and other entry-level planners through the ranks.
He says this approach gives the business an opportunity to mould planners and is also less expensive than recruiting certified financial planner-qualified planners. Yet despite its current marketing program, he says the business is exactly where it wants to be. "In this model you don't sell product. It's a benefit of being a super fund that there are no commissions, no entry fees, and no exit fees," he says. Telstra Super also uses a team approach to servicing clients where clients may have a key relationship with a particular planner, but are broadly serviced by a range of people in the financial planning business. "This is working well for us. It frees up time to deal with more complex clients," Grinter says.
