Brighter Super taps IFAs to enhance adviser offering

Brighter Super has boosted its partnerships with independent financial advisers (IFAs) in an effort to “scale up” its advice capabilities for members, in addition to expanding its business development team in Queensland.

The fund said the development would ensure all members have access to the tools, resources and guidance necessary to achieve their retirement goals.

It comes as the the Brighter Super & Investment Trends 2024 Retirement Income Report found that only 39 per cent of retirees have engaged a financial adviser for information on retirement, which Brighter Super chief executive, Kate Farrar, said reflects that not all advice for the fund’s members can be “delivered by its internal advice team”.

At the time of the research paper’s construction and release, Brighter Super was said to have been working with 1,300 IFAs to enhance its advice offering to members; the partnerships announced now cover more than 1,500 IFAs.

“Our goal is for every member to retire with advice and bridging the advice gap is key to securing a better retirement for Australians,’’ Farrar said.

“We have a good understanding of where our internal team is best placed to provide advice, but we also recognise that some members require more specialised support.

“We want to make it easier for external advisers to work with us and to provide them with the support they need to deliver the best outcomes for their clients, our members.’’

The report also uncovered the presence of an advice gap among pre-retirees, of which 47 per cent felt unprepared for retirement. This is compared to the 55 per cent of pre-retirees who felt more confident ahead of retirement after receiving information or guidance to change their investment options.

To support IFAs as they look to deliver advice services for Brighter Super members the fund said it had implemented several initiatives, including updating its Adviser Online portal, connecting a dedicated phone line for advisers and other features such as:

• Allowing all advice fee types to be charged by IFAs;
• Allowing IFAs to switch members to pension accounts;
• Enabling direct document uploads to the portal;
• Accepting digital signatures from members and advisers on most forms; and
• Making it easier for advisers to access up-to-date information sheets and investment updates from the fund.

To be rolled out at a later date is an enhanced limited transaction authority for IFAs.