AustralianSuper chief executive Ian Silk remained tight-lipped on how the superannuation giant spends on its marketing and advertising campaigns.
Fronting the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics on Friday, Silk declined on more than one occasion to provide details on how $11 million into advertising this calendar year was spent, saying he doesn’t want to give competitors ideas, according to multiple reports.
Silk was reportedly quizzed by the standing committee chairman Tim Wilson, who said other retail and industry funds had given specifics.
It comes after almost 410,000 people joined AustralianSuper last year, which was the biggest influx in its history, Silk told the committee, according to news.com.au.
According to the outlet, this gave the superannuation company some 2.3 million members, who trust it to manage more than $180 billion in retirement savings.
Silk said this speaks volumes about the marketing and advertising campaigns.
“It’s a competitive industry,” he said, via news.com.au.
“If we were to provide details of that marketing campaign to other funds, it’s possible that others might learn from that.
“It’s not done on the basis of keeping it secret for its own sake.
“The only time we decline to provide information is where we think it is to the detriment of the fund’s members.”
Silk added that about half of those new members chose individually to join, while the rest did so because it was their employer’s default fund.
The news comes amid a crackdown on ad spending by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, following a blitz of ads during the AFL grand final.
According to InvestorDaily, advertising spend has emerged as a key issue in the wake of the announcement of the Your Future, Your Super reforms, with standing committee chairman Wilson noting that the $172.4 billion fund could soon find itself compelled to reveal further details.
“A lot of other super funds are quite happy to provide this information, but apparently for AustralianSuper it’s essential to its marketing strategy,” Wilson said, via InvestorDaily.
Featured image source: YouTube/AustralianSuper
