The 2014 SMSF awards co-hosted by CoreData and selfmanagedsuper saw Cavendish Superannuation emerge as the best administration provider for advisers.
The need to stay relevant pushed the team at Cavendish Superannuation to strengthen their administration processes and resulted in the SMSF specialist taking out the top award for administration in the SMSF adviser category at the SMSF Service Provider Awards.
Just over 18 months ago, the AMP-owned Cavendish enhanced its technological capabilities, with the selection of SuperIQ software to be used as the firm’s front-end portal, and a
Class Super product for back-end system access.
“We wanted to enhance process improvement and customer experience,” AMP SMSF managing director Natasha Fenech says of the upgrades, adding she expected the upgrades to take around two years to complete.
“Clearly I’m pushing the team to do it sooner rather than later, but in all honesty I do believe it’s about a two-year proposition,” Fenech says.
Since then, the main focus for the Cavendish team has been “bedding down processes and lining up our processes with the new systems”, she adds.
“Advisers are starting to see us change and get back to service levels previously offered [prior to the technology upgrades],” she says.
“We’re working closely through the glitches and focusing on delivering a good-quality experience.
“Relevance to customers is obviously the foundation piece, but technology and the advance of technology in terms of things like economies of scale … actually drives a better outcome for the customer at the end of the day through a much more cost-effective administration of their fund.”
Aside from substantial investments in technological enhancements, the superannuation advice business has had two other key focuses for improvement over the past 12 months.
The first is the goal of improving its offerings to ensure they resonate with market needs.
“We need to stay relevant, so we’re improving our offerings to suit adviser and trustee needs,” Fenech says.
“We’re also focusing on a significant investment in our people.”
Established 20 years ago, Cavendish has retained some of the staff who have been with the firm from the start.
“We have staff in the business who’ve been here since our inception. These are key people who have gotten to know [clients] personally,” Fenech says.
“It’s not only about efficient processes, but about building relationships.”
These goals will continue to propel Cavendish throughout 2015, with the aim of further strengthening customer service experiences and product offerings.
“Our focus is to continue to deliver great-quality service and offerings, to continue to invest in technology and people, and hopefully win more awards in the future,” Fenech says.
“This is a highly fragmented market and it’s changing all the time, with new technology improving customer service and the way SMSF services are delivered.
“We are focused on ensuring our offer meets the needs of the fast-growing SMSF sector and we will continue to refine, improve and add to it”.
Award winners
- Class Super: SMSF accounting software/administration
- Cromwell: Property
- Macquarie: Cash and term deposits
- FIIG Securities: Fixed income
- Westpac: Residential property loans
- CommSec: Australian shares
- TAL: Insurance
- BT Wrap: Investment platform
- Magellan: International shares
