Admins team up for rollover revolution
Friday, 12 March 2010 12:20pm
Three of the country's biggest administrators - AAS, Pillar Administration and Superpartners - are joining forces to set up a standard of protocols for fund rollovers.
In a move in line with the Government's initiative to use Medicare as a small business clearing house, the three administrators are launching their own set of principles and protocols covering data and money flow for rollovers.
Robert Van Woerkom, who has more than 40 years of administration experience in the finance sector, has been appointed project manager for the initiative.
"What we want to do is get a common set of standards... that's open and everyone can join.
"We [will be] purely focusing on rollovers for now. Medicare is concentrating more on contributions," said Van Woerkom.
According to a press statement, the standards will be consistent with the direction taken by Medicare in establishing a contribution clearing facility for small employers.
All three administrators, which administer a collective $173 billion for members, have reached an agreement to establish the operating and governance framework in line with the banking system's APCA open model.
While the project currently extends only to fund rollovers, Van Woerkom said there is scope for expanding the venture in the hopes that administrators and funds can "join the dots" between Medicare and the three administrators' initiatives.
The minister for financial services and super, Chris Bowen, has commended the proceedings.
"It will build on the work Medicare is doing to reduce red tape for small businesses and bring about greater efficiencies and reduced costs in the processing of payments within the superannuation system," said Bowen.
In a joint press release, Greg Camm, chief executive of Superpartners said: "The Cooper Review has laid down some challenges to the industry designed to improve efficiency of the system. We believe this joint initiative rises to those challenges."
Peter Beck, chief executive of Pillar Administration said: "The Government decision to appoint Medicare to operate a clearing house provides a unique opportunity for the industry and has facilitated an agreement on the protocols for the efficient and secure transfer of data and money."
"This is an important industry initiative and as such there is an open invitation for other administrators and self administered funds to join this arrangement as they choose," said John McMurtrie, chief executive of AAS.
Ruth Liew
This story was found at: http://www.financialstandard.com.au/news/view/28271
Printed: Wednesday, 8 September 2010 7:03am