Insignia, TAL and Challenger partner in major retirement push

Barely a month after major insurer TAL took a significant stake in Challenger, the two companies have joined with Insignia Financial to launch a retirement solution under the MLC brand.

The three companies announced the creation of MLC Retirement Boost which is effectively a superannuation account product which utilises the concessional treatment of lifetime income stream.

The product will be driven in large part by the Challenger distribution team and be available to advisers and their clients on the MLC Expand platform.

Challenger will develop what is being described as a “Centre of Excellence which will entail distribution, digital advice member journeys and modelling tools including a “Retirement Boost Optimiser”

The launch documentation makes clear that it is Challenger’s role to bring the product to “market scale”.

Announcing the move, Insignia Financial chief executive, Scott Hartley said the partnership combined the expertise of MLC as one of the oldest and largest pension players in Australia, with TAL as a leading life insurer and challenger as the largest annuity provider.

Hartley claimed MLC Retirement Boost would give Australians more personalisation and flexibility in their retirement planning, increasing the potential of superannuation for more people.

“This is just the first step in MLC’s offering in this space, and I’m excited for what’s to come over the next 12-18 months as we continue to enhance MLC Retirement Boost to provide advisers with more options and flexibility to deliver personalised retirement income strategies to their clients,” he said.

Challenger chief executive and managing director, Nick Hamilton said that Australia stood at a pivotal moment with retirement income moving from the sidelines to the mainstream.

“Backed by 40 years’ experience in retirement innovation, investment management and distribution, we’re proud to help lead this shift – through partnerships like this – that will enable more Australians to have financial security in retirement.

“Our deep experience in retirement income means Challenger is uniquely positioned to help MLC scale faster and support more Australians to build stronger, more confident retirement strategies,” Hamilton said.