In an announcement last week, NGS Super said the industry fund has undertaken “detailed research” into why members are moving to SMSFs, finding investment choice is crucial to member retention.

“The development of this initiative was primarily in response to the challenge of self-managed funds,” general manager of operations Laura Wright told SMSF Adviser.

“The fund believes that providing the direct investment platform will be crucial in retaining its more active high net worth members,” she said.

Chief executive Anthony Rodwell-Ball also said the Mercer partnership allowed the fund to launch a competitive offering for members, while keeping costs under control.

“We know that some members want more control over their investments, but for a fund of our size, the cost of developing a direct investment platform looked prohibitive at first. Working with Mercer, however, it cost [less] than half as much as going it alone”.