Speaking to InvestorDaily, NGS Super acting chief executive Laura Wright said the decision to provide the new ASX300 direct investment option came about as the result of numerous surveys of the fund's membership.
"[When the results] came back it was not surprising that members wanted more investment options and more control over their investments," she said.
"Quite clearly, putting in the [Mercer] platform is one way of dealing with that and we [will] start out with a range of products including shares and term deposits," said Ms Wright.
Once NGS Super members begin trading using the platform next week, the fund will start to assess the take-up and decide whether or not to expand the range of investment options, she said.
"We know that there’s been a pent-up demand for it because we indicated to members in the second half of last year that we were going to be introducing this platform," said Ms Wright.
A number of members have already transferred their funds into cash in anticipation of the launch of the new direct investment options, she said.
NGS Super is the first industry super fund to roll out Mercer's white-label platform, said Ms Wright. NGS already uses Mercer as its administrator.
The fund's chief executive Anthony Rodwell-Ball, who is currently on leave, said in a statement that the partnership with Mercer allowed NGS Super to keep costs "under control".
“We know that some members want more control over their investments, but for a fund of our size, the cost of developing a direct investment platform looked prohibitive at first. Working with Mercer, however, it cost at less than half as much as going it alone," he said.
"“NGS Super has undertaken detailed research into why super fund members move to self-managed funds, so we know that more investment choice and a greater say over where their money goes is crucial to retaining these more active members," said Mr Rodwell-Ball.
The industry fund's financial planners have undergone education and compliance training with Mercer to ensure they properly advise NGS Super's members as they utilise the new service, he added.
