SuperConcepts offers glimpse of its future direction
Changes at SuperConcepts have been moving rapidly, says chief technical officer Andy Forbes.
Mr Forbes told SMSF Adviser the new ownership has enabled the business to “focus on what counts” and said that innovation is “happening at pace”.
“We were owned by a large, listed firm and that came with benefits and challenges and as a result, we needed to reset away from institutional ownership,” Mr Forbes said.
“The new management team is driving a standalone focus.”
He said the majority of changes at SuperConcepts have revolved around improving automation for fund administration, pre-audit and quality checks, and the use of data wizards.
In June, AMP Limited announced it agreed to sell 100 per cent of SuperConcepts to a team co-invested with Pemba Capital Partners (Pemba).
Following this, SuperConcepts entered into an enterprise service agreement with Equity Trustees to take on the clients of Australian Executor Trustees.
Since June, the revamped SuperConcepts has made a series of updates and enhancements including 20 software releases and over 250 developments.
Mr Forbes said the latest technology update is a pilot of ACSSIS Adviser, which he said will massively extend bank feeds.
“The way we look at it, SuperConcepts and SuperMate make it easier for highly skilled professionals to offer their services,” Mr Forbes said.
“We want to help them leverage their bespoke SMSF knowledge with greater value tasks and if we can automate more of the mechanical things without reducing or oversimplifying it, we are doing our job.”
Mr Forbes said from his own experience in the sector, advisers and financial professionals are more willing to embrace technology if it can provide a better-targeted service for their clients.
“Each software provider needs to innovate in ways to support their client base,” he said.
“SuperConcepts’ base is as a larger SMSF administrator, so we are constantly looking at improvements at scale for our clients.
“My role here is to lead the SuperMate software product and any ways in which we can innovate to make SMSF administration easier and that is what we are doing.”
Mr Forbes said although software innovation is supporting advisers, there are still a lot of mechanical processes involved in the auditing process.
“But if we can better design a process that is happening in the real world it can simplify things,” he said.
“Broadly, the industry is trying to reduce friction.”
