Plum moves into corporate super express lane

In January this year, Plum Financial Services blew out the candles on its second birthday cake. The group, a joint venture between MLC and Vanguard, formed with the specific aim of providing integrated super solutions for medium to large super funds with more than $10 million - the crème de la crème of the corporate super market.

Plum offers its clients full services on plan management and administration. It has 10 different funds on its investment menu and offers clients a range of associated education, advice and information packages.

Plum director and chief executive officer, Lisa Gray says, "Our aim is to re-define superannuation in Australia. We find that there is a better deal for members of superannuation funds and employers. What we are really providing is tomorrow's super today - the next generation of super," she says.

In its two years of operation Plum has built a small, select client base of 15 clients and gathered more than $750 million under administration. Part of the secret of Plum's success, according to Gray, lies in the fact that the company chose to concentrate on building processes and perfecting its business system before adding clients. Although the group was launched in May 1998, it did not add clients until January 1999.

"What we've done is built the business from the ground up. We have levels of business, one being the call centre where members receive customer service via telephone. The second being the IVA (interactive voice response) system with a twenty-four hour, seven day a week online service," she says.

It is this interactive online service which Gray believes differentiates Plum from its competitors. Members can find account details, insurance information and make transactions online. It offers members access to investment profile information, education and gives a daily unit pricing on investments.

"We are leading the market in technology and online services as well as education services for members," says Gray who quotes company figures indicating 11 per cent of members are using the website, with more than 30 per cent accessing the site outside business hours.

"Individuals need information about their own situations, how much money they have, where it is invested. There needs to be various access points for consumers to find all this information, and that is what we have managed to create," she says.

The only real challenge Plum has faced to date, according to Gray, has been building the brand.

"Because we are relatively new on the scene we don't have a strong brand name as yet," she says. "We are raising awareness through the usual avenues - PR and word of mouth. We've also pushed to build our client base through providing quality of service."

And it is an impressive client base - including the likes of Arthur Andersen, Freehills, Orix, Lend Lease and National Foods.

Plum is also in the race to pick up BHP's corporate superannuation fund, OneSteel. As reported in an earlier edition of Money Management, OneSteel is seeking a group that can offer a master trust structure for its funds. The company winning the tender will strip $650 million from BHP's $3.3 billion corporate superannuation fund and service the soon-to-be-listed company's 7,000 employees. If successful, Plum will be the winner of Australia's biggest ever corporate superannuation outsourcing deal. However, there are other competitors in the ring and OneSteel has stipulated that the winner of the tender must be able to offer members financial planning support - something Plum currently outsources. Gray would not be drawn on how Plum would offer this support to the BHP fund, given that the issue is still live in the market place, but she is prepared to comment on the company's future.

"We will work to further expand our existing online services, as well as expanding education capabilities," she says. "We have recently launched a new capability in the master trust area to accumulate plans in a master trust. We have not ruled out international opportunities, but at this stage we are very focused and committed to our Australian members."