Driving Transparency and Innovation in Super, Life and Investment
Australia’s managed accounts sector is booming, with over $250 billion invested and rapid growth projected as the nation moves toward becoming the world’s second largest pension market. But with growth comes complexity—particularly in Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), where inconsistent data standards and reporting pose real challenges across superannuation, life insurance, and investment platforms.
That’s why Adviser Ratings and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are proud to announce their successful joint funding application under the Australian Government Department of Education’s National Industry PhD Program. This coveted grant will support a PhD research project focused on advancing transparency, standardisation, and trust within the SMA segment—benefiting the broader superannuation, insurance, and investment communities.
Why It Matters for the Super, Life and Investment Ecosystem
SMAs are reshaping how Australians invest, with their promise of personalisation and clarity. Yet across superannuation funds, life companies, and investment providers, inconsistent data formats and opaque reporting standards remain significant roadblocks. This research project aims to:
- Develop AI-driven tools to bring consistency and clarity to SMA reporting across sectors.
- Improve transparency and trust in investment performance and outcomes.
- Support stronger governance, oversight, and consumer confidence in super, life, and investment products.
The Research Initiative
The project—“Developing AI Driven Tools to Maintain Data Standards and Empirically Validate Investment Outcomes for the Managed Accounts Sector”—is one of only two UNSW-linked projects awarded in this funding round, out of 177 submissions nationwide.
This is a rare collaboration between academia and industry, embedding a PhD candidate within the operational reality of the wealth and investment ecosystem. The candidate will work closely with Adviser Ratings’ data and technology teams to address real-world challenges across managed accounts, platforms, and product issuers.
The research will be supported by UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering and the UNSW AI Institute, leveraging deep expertise in data science, machine learning, and finance. The goal is to build AI solutions that raise the bar for transparency and standardisation—both in Australia and globally.
What This Means for Super Funds, Life Insurance and Investment Platforms.
This initiative brings benefits well beyond financial advice, as financial product providers will benefit from:
- Standardisation: Robust, consistent reporting and disclosure of product fee types and features across managed accounts and investment products.
- Innovation: Next-generation AI tools tailored for the evolving super and investment landscape.
- Trust: A foundation of transparency to improve outcomes and strengthen consumer confidence.
“This isn’t just about compliance,” says Angus Woods, Managing Director of Adviser Ratings. “We’re building the infrastructure to create trust at scale.”
Our Role in Driving Change
This initiative is part of Adviser Ratings’ broader commitment to improving integrity and innovation in financial services. From ProductRex to the SMA Standard™, and now this national research partnership, we’re helping product providers, platforms, and fiduciaries navigate complexity with confidence.
Stay tuned as this project evolves—we’ll share insights and breakthroughs that help super funds, insurers, and investment managers improve product design, governance, and member outcomes.
In the meantime, learn more about efforts to improve consistency and comparability in managed accounts through the SMA Standard™. For those navigating platform and managed account decisions, ProductRex continues to support informed, data-backed comparisons
