2017 has been a super year for Sunsuper. The Queensland-based national company celebrated 30 years on October 1, and was named Super Fund of the Year not once, but twice. We chat to Sunsuper CEO Scott Hartley about the award wins and what’s next for the company. [Hint: it’s an app.]

What do you do when you’ve just hit 30? You throw a big party of course, with lots of fireworks. And that’s exactly what Sunsuper did on September 30, the eve of its 30th birthday, with the Sunsuper Riverfire held in Brisbane lighting up the skies (and television screens) for more than 500,000 people.

Making this milestone even worthier of celebration, is the fact that Sunsuper – a born and bred Queensland business that still bases its HQ in Brisbane despite now being a national company – was named Fund of the Year for 2017, twice.

In August, Super Review named Sunsuper the Super Fund of the Year, based on its rapid growth and the enhancements it has made to product offering in recent years. And in May, Sunsuper claimed one of the industry’s most coveted awards, Chant West’s Super Fund of the Year. Sunsuper also received Chant West’s awards for Corporate Solutions Fund of the Year and Best Fund: Member Services.

Sunsuper CEO Scott Hartley says the Chant West awards were won based on Sunsuper’s high performance across all criteria, including fees, growth, member services, governance and others.

“It’s a very competitive field, there’s a lot of good funds in the Australian market place; and to win you have to be the best in class, or among the best in class across all criteria. It’s a very gratifying result,” Scott says.

“Sunsuper has grown substantially in the last three years; we’ve grown from the 12th largest fund in the country to the 10th largest, and this year we will become the 9th largest.”

– SCOTT HARTLEY

Scott, who has been in the CEO seat since January 2014, has seen Sunsuper grow significantly. “Sunsuper has grown substantially in the last three years; we’ve grown from the 12th largest fund in the country to the 10th largest, and this year we will become the 9th largest.”

That ranking is based on funds under management, of which Sunsuper has $46 billion. In terms of customers, Sunsuper is the sixth largest fund in the country with 1.1 million members, and works with 95,000 employers.

“They’re very big dimensions to manage on a day to day basis. For us to be sustainable, we’ve got to continue to grow and ensure we’ve got scale,” says Scott. “We’ve got efficient operations, and if we can get to the top five funds in the next four years – in terms of funds under management, and customers – I think Sunsuper is well placed to be around forever.”

One of Sunsuper’s biggest selling points is that while it’s a commercially competitive fund it is also a profit-for-member fund, meaning competitors like the banks and other big funds like AMP have to give part of their returns to shareholders.

“Because we don’t have shareholders we have low fees, and that helps us deliver much higher net returns to our members.”

This October, Sunsuper will roll out a market-leading app to its customers, which will engage and educate.

“The app gives you quick access to information about your super,” explains Scott, “Your current balance, what contributions your employer is making and whether your own personal contributions are going in. It gives you access to your super in a really easy way.

“Super’s not the thing people wake up and think first about – unless maybe you’re in retirement or about to retire.

“Most people retiring now haven’t had the benefit of super all their lives, so they’re largely not retiring with enough. But young people, if they can get interested in their super – and the app helps that – will be able to ensure they have a comfortable retirement.”

The app has touch ID for easy access, and serves as a digital membership card so you don’t need to remember your membership number. It has push notifications and gives users quick access to a retirement calculator and other tools useful for super.

“Super is your money and it is critically important to you for your future,” emphasises Scott. “To benefit  your future self, you must pay attention to that money today, even though you can’t access it today.”

For more information about Sunsuper’s member services, Dream Rewards benefits and the new app, visit sunsuper.com.au.