'First mover' electronic rollover initiative sets the pace by welcoming new participants and evolving in line with Stronger Super

Sydney, 7 November 2011: The Industry Funds Forum (IFF) and Cuscal today announced the expansion of the IFF eRollover Hub to include Russell Investments. Russell Investments is the first non-industry superannuation fund to join the collaboration, which aims to reduce the cost of rollovers and increase service to members.

The IFF eRollover Hub is an efficient electronic rollover solution, born out of a collaboration of industry superannuation funds. The Hub uses the ClickSuper eCommerce technology developed by Cuscal to deliver efficiencies, and to date it has successfully transacted more than 3,200 rollovers to the value of $12 million.

By the end of 2011, Russell Investments will service more than 350,000 members across Australia in a range of superannuation funds. Russell has commenced implementation of the rollover hub and will begin using the Hub for rollover payments later in 2011.

Siva Sivakumaran, Director, Administration and Actuarial Consulting Service at Russell Investments said, "We were looking for a solution that would help us improve our member service, by accelerating the movement of superannuation money and by offering visibility as the payment progresses. By using the service, we will be able to significantly reduce the dis-investment period for our members' money.

"By becoming an early adopter of eCommerce solutions through the IFF eRollover Hub, we will also come into line with the Federal Government's Stronger Super considerations, by improving our back-end processes.

"Russell recognises that to stay relevant in the superannuation administration space, we need to apply technology to automate processes. We have invested heavily into building electronic interfaces with our clients and their employer payroll systems to facilitate electronic dataflow for incoming membership and contribution data. The next step for us to improve member services further was to adopt the rollover hub. It allows us the efficient exchange of administration data with other superannuation funds" Siva said.

Peter Rowe, Chair of the IFF eCommerce Steering Committee and Chief Operating Officer at Vision Super said, "We are pleased to welcome Russell Investments as the first non-industry superannuation fund into the IFF eRollover Hub. The Hub is operational today, and open to all superannuation funds, whether a part of the IFF core group or not. 

"Our Hub has followed the lead that the Federal Government is setting through its Stronger Super policy consideration. We are setting a pace for the industry to follow in terms by using the industry's first operable, eCommerce rollover solution - that being ClickSuper," Peter said.

ClickSuper and the IFF eRollover Hub are working together to continue to grow the initiative, and evolve it in line with the Government's policy recommendations. The collaboration has used the industry's recommended data standards since it began. The use of these standards will continue to progress in keeping with the Government's favoured approach.

Additionally, negotiations are presently underway with a large administrator of self-managed superannuation funds, which is interested in joining the IFF eRollover Hub.

For more details on ClickSuper, please visit www.clicksuper.com.au.
Further information on Cuscal can be found at www.cuscal.com.au.

About Cuscal

Cuscal is a leading business-to-business provider of wholesale banking and transactional banking services in Australia. Servicing more than 100 specialist retail financial institutions, including the majority of Australia's credit unions, Cuscal processes more than 100 million electronic banking transactions each year and manages the assets of a customer base with a collective balance sheet of more than $30 billion.

To arrange interviews or for further information, please contact:
Caroline Hendra
Cuscal Limited
T: 02 8299 9267
M: 0423 842 967
chendra@cuscal.com.au

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments is an independent, global financial services firm that provides strategic advice, investment solutions, implementation services and global performance benchmarks that are customised to meet the unique needs of institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2011, and 25 years in Australia, Russell has pioneered innovations that have come to define many of the practices that are standard in the investment world today, and has four decades of experience researching and selecting money managers globally.

Russell has about US$161 billion in assets under management (as of 3/31/11) and works with 2,300 institutional clients, 530 independent distribution partners and millions of individual investors globally. As a consultant to some of the largest pools of capital in the world, Russell has $2 trillion in assets under advisement (as of 12/31/2010) and traded $1.5 trillion last year through its implementation services business. Russell provides leading administration and member services to more than 350,000 individuals through its Australian Member Administration Centre. The Russell Global Indexes calculate over 50,000 benchmarks daily covering 63 countries and more than 10,000 securities.

Founded in 1936, Russell is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA and has offices in Amsterdam, Auckland, Chicago, London, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. For more information about how Russell helps to improve financial security for people, visit www.russell.com/au.

About Industry Funds Forum

The Industry Funds Forum (IFF) is an incorporated association whose members are the Chief Executive Officers of 27 of Australia's largest industry superannuation funds. These funds have more than 8 million member accounts with over $200 billion in assets, and around 680,000 participating employers. 

IFF's objectives include influencing public policy for the benefit of members and promoting the adoption of a bipartisan approach to superannuation and retirement incomes policy and to discuss and share ideas aimed at improving services to members.

Members of Industry Funds Forum:

• Kay Thawley, CEO, AUSFund
• Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper
• John Paul, CEO, ASSET Super
• David O'Sullivan, CEO, BUSSQ
• Julie Lander, CEO, CARE Super
• Greg Cantor, CEO, Australian Catholic Superannuation Retirement Fund
• David Atkin, CEO, Cbus Super
• Graeme Russell, CEO, FIRST Super
• Cath Bowtell, CEO, AGEST
• David Elia, CEO, HOSTPLUS
• Ross Martin, CEO, MEDIA Super
• Bill McRobert, Fund Manager, MIES
• Leeanne Turner, Deputy Executive Director (Superannuation), MTAA
• Anthony Rodwell-Ball, CEO, NGS Super
• Damian Hill, CEO, REST (Convenor)
• Peter Robertson, CEO, Maritime Super
• John O'Flaherty, CEO, STATEWIDE
• Tony Lally, CEO, SunSuper
• Neil Cassidy, CEO, Tasplan
• Bill McMIllin, Fund Secretary, TWU Super
• Andrew Proebstl, CEO, Legal Super
• Frank Pegan, CEO, Catholic Super
• Craig Stevens, CEO, AustSafe
• Jack Sullivan, Acting CEO, AMIST
• Rob Brooks, CEO, Vision Super
• Bruce Watson, CEO, Auscoal
• Greg Sword, CEO, LUCRF
• Helen Hewett, Executive Officer