SwimEC afloat at last
The SwimEC (Super, Wealth and Investment Management Electronic Commerce) industry initiative mounted by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) is set to benefit investors of all kinds.
Launched in July last year to promote the development and adoption of industry messaging standards for electronic commerce in the superannuation, wealth management and investment management environments, it aims to reduce costs, enhance accuracy of data, improve standards of service and create an increasingly fluid and dynamic investment environment.
The SwimEC program is an amalgamation of its predecessor SuperEC and MFundEC programs.
The objective of SwimEC now is to create standards, relationships and processes for the automated exchange of superannuation and managed funds information across all industry stakeholders.
It tests the standards, and enables participants to increase efficiency by integrating systems with electronic gateways, automatic exchange of data and transfer of funds.
In theory, this process should eliminate the use of multiple, expensive proprietary interfaces for messages among industry organisations.
Last year, IFSA chief executive Richard Gilbert said the initiative would help drive a more timely response to market and regulatory changes in an increasingly fluid and dynamic superannuation and investment environment.
Since then, he says, the initiative has progressed smoothly, the SwimEC web site is now up and running, the superannuation rollover standard has been updated and the charter to promote SwimEC standards within the industry is in place.
IFSA’s role now is to update the standards and maintain them to reflect changes in legislation this year, working with member organisations to extend the initiative. Further discussions will take place at the IFSA conference in August this year.
“We’re not trying to force people down this avenue,” Gilbert says.
“It’s just a tool to promote and encourage organisations down this path. In management theory, you have various cycles of change when you set up an organisation. An analogy is storming, norming and performing and I think we’re coming close to performing. It took a year to get the synergy running between the various parties and I think we’re now all on the same wavelength to create a dynamic wealth management space.”
The SwimEC web site is being monitored regularly and provides feedback through the online registration process on how the industry is responding.
The FPA, IFSA and ASFA will also continue to meet every quarter to discuss maintenance of the standards and the future direction of the initiative.
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