Mind the Gap!
Can Australia avert a looming pension crisis?
How can the industry provide much needed advice services to a customer segment unable or unwilling to pay the rising costs and what role will technology play in shaping future advice models?
When thousands of workers were furloughed in the early stages of the Covid pandemic it became clear that many Australians were woefully unprepared to endure short term cash crunches or interruptions to their earnings capability.
Despite having one of the most well funded pension systems in the world, Australia continues to slide in the annual Mercer Global Pension Index as contribution rates decline and concerns on the ability to generate strong income in retirement increase.
The Haynes Commission recommendations have contributed to a growing ‘advice gap’ that is leaving many Australians unable to obtain much needed ‘full service’ financial advice.
A recent raft of technology enabled firms are seeking to address some of these challenges, offering retail consumers access to low-cost planning tools via largely ‘self-service’ digital channels.
- Will these services gain traction in the retail market?
- To what extent will these tools help to close the pension gap and will they prove sufficient?
- Can the same tool set be leveraged to reduce the service costs and provide differentiation in other market segments?
- What other steps can the industry, or the government take to ensure that all consumers have cost effective access to holistic financial advice?
Eric Mellor
Wealth Management Specialist, APAC, Temenos
Eric Mellor is a wealth specialist at Temenos, responsible for bridging the gap between customers and vendors, working with banks to define their wealth management goals and ambitions and translating these to practical, effective technology-driven solutions.
Eric has 20 years of experience in wealth management and has held various international wealth and asset management positions in the UK, The Channel Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to Temenos, he held leadership roles at Avaloq and HSBC and has worked in both client-facing advisory roles and investment and asset management positions.
Eric holds multiple advisory qualifications in the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, the CFA Investment Management Certificate and a First Class Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Financial Services from the University of Portsmouth.