Superfunds access analytics to retain members

Australian superannuation funds are turning to predictive analytics in a bid to retain members, data specialist firm Empirics has said.

Predictive analytics were increasingly being used to target and anticipate member behaviour as competition for members within the super space ramped up, it said.

"We're seeing a real surge of interest from [super] funds who are moving on from reporting, which essentially looks backwards, to using predictive analytics to look forwards and see what these insights can do for their fund, particularly how they can help engage and retain members," Empirics chief executive Darrell Ludowyke said.

"Previously analytics used to mean identifying and segmenting members, however, today we can accurately predict behaviour, inform business and marketing strategies and then track and measure direct causal outcomes."

By predicting client behaviour, super funds were now able to identify members who were most at risk of exiting the fund, as well as those who were most likely to change jobs or acquire additional products and services.

The data-driven metrics also provided insight into customer engagement or inactivity and assisted funds in identifying members who had the greatest roll-in potential, and those who were most likely to make voluntary contributions, the group said.

The industry was changing rapidly and was "driven by increased competition and legislative changes, with funds having to work much harder to retain disengaged members who are consolidating their super elsewhere, rolling out or moving to other investment vehicles such as SMSFs (self-managed super funds) under the advice of financial planners", Ludowyke said.

Meanwhile, Empirics on Friday announced Australian Ethical had come on board as its latest client and would be applying its superannuation analytics to the manager's 20,000-strong member base.

"We are particularly attracted to the potential for analytics to inform decision-making directly based on hard data, as well as monitor our existing campaigns with tangible return on investment figures," Australian Ethical head of marketing Paul Smith said.

Empirics has just under 20 clients within the Australian superannuation space as well as others in the automotive, retail, sport and utility industries.