SuperConcepts will this year focus on closely aligning its stable of sub-brands from a technology stance and look to apply the latest capabilities from overseas where applicable.
“Worldwide, the IT industry is full of buzzwords and the current buzzword is digital transformation,” SuperConcepts chief technology officer Kurt Groeneveld told selfmanagedsuper.
“What that means is breaking down component capabilities into the digital form so that you can intermix and inter-match them, virtually like a plug-and-play of different capabilities.
“When you start building technology, you need that sort of thought in mind – understanding that you’ve got your systems of record, which need to be robust, solid and secure, and your systems of engagement, which because of the change in devices that we use, you need to be renewing that every three, four years and so you really need to have that capability of plug-and-play components.”
Groeneveld, who was chief executive of SuperCorp, revealed that while SMSFs were unique to the Australian market, technology insights and concepts he attained from trips abroad were often brought back to the business’s toolset here.
“I spend some time looking at overseas applications and seeing how we can take those concepts and provide them in financial services,” he said, adding he was now in charge of all technology across SuperConcepts since the rebrand.
“My role means I oversee all of our technology, both our infrastructure and our application technology.
“I’ll be continuing to drive the technology forward as SuperConcepts is absolutely the supplier of software to the industry and, equally supported by me, we’ve acquired quite a number of very high-quality technology assets so my job now is to mould all those into a single stack, which works even more efficiently than it does currently.”
This year, superMate enhanced its dashboard for partner engagement, with ViewSuper launched for trustee engagement last year.
“We’ll continue with those parts on the product side,” Groeneveld said.
“We’ve got to bring all of these components together and create some really slick experiences for our SuperConcepts clients so that we can roll out interesting services this year that hopefully augment what we do now.
“But I think the important thing is that it’s not [limiting ourselves to] a software or administration provider – we’ve got lots of capabilities in these services, whether it be compliance or overflow services, so we can offer a whole range and hopefully that means we can engage with a far wider audience.”
Commenting on the ATO’s announcement that it planned to digitise parts of the SMSF process, he said: “We’re starting to get services that plug in and at the end of the day it’s all about the end user’s experience, so if we can get capability from external services and bring it together into one technology offering, then that’s fantastic.
“It really is part of the concept of digital transformation.
“We’re working with the ATO on a number of initiatives and it’s exciting.
“One thing that’s nice about the ATO is that they’re a hub of different activities and they’ve been very open about their plans and accommodating about how we can help them achieve this.”
He added technology had played a part in helping accountants move into the SMSF space.
“One of the challenges for accountants used to be around pensions and, of course, with the ageing population, pensions are going to be more and more popular,” he said.
“In our technology stack, we’ve put a lot of effort into pensions a while ago and we’re now getting accountants who aren’t shy about pensions all because the capability is there.
“So I think that’s the promise of technology – you make it possible, you make it easier, you make it automated, and that’s how we’re approaching it.”
In November last year, AMP purchased administration technology providers SuperIQ and SuperCorp.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission recently issued a certificate of registration on change of name, certifying that SuperCorp Technology Pty Ltd changed its name to SuperConcepts Software Services Pty Ltd on 1 March.
The date of commencement of registration for the company was 28 January 1994.
Earlier this year AMP restructured and changed the name of its SMSF business to SuperConcepts, incorporating administration, education and software services.
