Bendigo enters retail superannuation market
Bendigo Wealth is targeting fee-for-service independent financial advisers (IFAs) with the launch of a low-cost, 'true-to-label' superannuation product called SmartStart Super.
Bendigo Wealth head of wealth markets Alexandra Tullio said SmartStart was Future of Financial Advice 'ready' because it was fee-for-service and dollar-based.
"Advisers in the IFA market are small business people who have all the pressures and stress of legislation and margin squeeze. From their perspective SmartStart fits with a fee-based model," Tullio said.
Bendigo Wealth would also support planners when it came to back-office functions such as super consolidation and analysis work, Tullio said.
SmartStart offers 10 investment options - five active and five indexed - with annual fees ranging from 0.39 per cent to 0.99 per cent. There is also an annual administration fee of $98.
"A lot of products out there purport to be transparent and very cost-conscious, but there is an asterisk on transaction-type fees. With this product we don't have any of those fees," Tullio said.
Bendigo has partnered with TAL to provide life insurance through SmartStart. The offering includes 'Life Events' cover that allows customers to increase their death and total and permanent disability cover after a significant event, along with income protection up to age 65.
Vanguard is the major investment manager for the product, and is joined by many other managers. IOOF will provide the administration for SmartStart, and Sandhurst Trustees (part of Bendigo Wealth) will oversee the product.
Along with the IFA market, the other main channel for the product will be Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's 1.4 million customers, who Tullio said "have a high level of trust in us".
As evidence of that trust, the bank recently ranked equal first in a customer loyalty benchmarking study conducted by Brisbane consulting firm Engaged Marketing. According to the findings, customers of Bendigo and Adelaide bank are more likely to recommend the bank to their friends and family than customers of other banks.
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