AustralianSuper launches Member Direct investment option

AustralianSuper’s Member Direct investment option offers members a new level of control and choice with their super. 

Now, AustralianSuper members can implement their own investment strategy by selecting from S&P/ASX 300 shares, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and term deposits through an online investment platform. Other features of the Member Direct investment option include a cash transaction account, real-time trading, extensive market information, independent stock analysis and investment tools, such as watchlists and charting. 

The Member Direct investment option will appeal to members who prefer to take a ‘hands-on’ approach to managing their super. In fact, the Member Direct investment option offers many of the benefits of a self managed super fund (SMSF) at a fraction of the cost of one. 

Superannuation is a long-term investment, so the Member Direct investment option is not suitable if you want to ‘time’ the markets or make short-term investment decisions. We strongly suggest you consult a licensed financial adviser before investing in this option. 

The Member Direct investment option has replaced the ASX 200 Shares option. It is only available to AustralianSuper members with an account balance of at least $10,000. Members can register online to participate in the new option.

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  • Where is the option to invest in precious metals? Without this option the fund looks like a tool of seizing people's (forced) retirement savings.

    Posted by Vaso 18 December 2011

  • Still teething problems that should of been ironed out if they truely tested the memberdirect website properly. Not happy that I can't do what I wanted to do with the website.

    Posted by Paul 19 December 2011

  • Hi Vaso – although we don’t offer members a direct precious metals investment option, you can invest in the Member Direct investment option which lets you invest in resource stocks (precious metals) that are in the S&P/ASX 300 Index.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 20 December 2011

  • Thanks for the feedback Paul. We’re working through the teething problems and we’re hoping to have them resolved soon.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 20 December 2011

  • Accessing the Member direct site is crazy ,logging in 3 times with username,pin,password or member number.surely there has to be an easier way? Peter

    Posted by Anonymous 21 December 2011

  • I'd start making navigating around your website easier (...access to the member direct investment platform more simpler) before spruiking about all its benefits...

    Posted by RJ 22 December 2011

  • i agree no easy link to take you direct so that you can log on easily

    Posted by david lloyd 23 December 2011

  • We agree that signing in should be easier. During the build of Member Direct online platform, legacy systems and security requirements meant that a multiple sign-in process is required. However, the good news is that we’re updating the other systems and a “single sign-on” process will be available sometime in 2012. Thanks for your patience.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 23 December 2011

  • HI frustrating,Registered for Member Direct but when it came to transferring funds got ERROR so could not go ahead with transfer. Told this was the only way to transfer as it could not be done manually only on-line

    Posted by Lyn 29 December 2011

  • I think your new website sucks. I have been unable to access a benefit quote since November 2011 Why? I would like to know how much my funds have shrunk.

    Posted by sandymac4me 29 December 2011

  • I quite agree with "Shaggy." It has been impossible for me register with Member Direct and take advantage of all the new 'hyped' options as the website just does not allow or accept my choices. In deed I have not been able to get an internet generated benefit estimate for several weeks indeed months. Are the website up-daters asleep at AS or what? I put several hundred thousand dollars into AS because of the efficiency of the site and service. I am starting to rethink that strategy.

    Posted by Ballynure & Esselmann 29 December 2011

  • Agree with other comments about login to member direct. In a world of so many user id/passwords less is more. one login quite sufficient and hopefully will be fastracked

    Posted by peter j 29 December 2011

  • Your Site is obscured from getting to the Member Direct site for logging in. Not easy to find how to get on to member direct!!!!

    Posted by Ben 29 December 2011

  • how to log on to member direct?????

    Posted by ben 29 December 2011

  • Your website is the most user-unfriendly I have ever come across. It led me to believe that I had registered for members direct when I in fact hadn't. Unable to complete the process without being talked through it on the phone.

    Posted by chukk 29 December 2011

  • Also agree with previous comment in regards to ETFs.Why only "i shares". There are many different providers and many form part of the asx 300 in any case. Why differentiate between ETFs and the asx300 anyway. For that matter why exclude LICs( listed investment companies) which form part of the asx300 (ie ARGO and AFIC) which one cant buy. These are ideal for super funds providing much diversity and good fully franked income stream and been around for many years. Should be labelled restricted asx300 option. However member direct is a much improvement to the asx200 option but cant really understand these restrictions

    Posted by peter j 29 December 2011

  • The new way to access your account is totally appalling - it used to be so easy and is now so hard - don't your IT people check things before you release them. Aust Super is always going on about transparency and investors having access to information but seem intent on making it as hard as possible to get information. Just received my half yearly statement in the mail and my blood pressure rose again - no useful information whatsoever as regards investment performance, fees charged etc. In addition to investment performace being bad everything else about Aust Super is bad as well. Get your act together or I'm going elsewhere.

    Posted by Jean 29 December 2011

  • I see lots of griping with the comments, so I thought I'd give credit where credit is due. The concept is great. The UBS daily reports are a fantastic cap of the previous day's trading. This will give a great challenge to SMSFs. It is cheap, and nicely featured. By way of future plans, do you think that some international exchanges will be supported? Such as NYSE or others. Keep up the good work, and keep innovating!

    Posted by Chris T 29 December 2011

  • Hi I was wondering if the Hybrid Bond securities been offered by TAB Corp / ANZ etc, will be are been offered on members direct

    Posted by Greg 29 December 2011

  • I'm trying to find out what (if any) buy/sell spread fees or charges for this and other investment options. I was very disappointed to see buy/sell fees with MediaSuper and am looking for another industry fund.

    Posted by Mal 29 December 2011

  • Member Direct website really slow today and not showing all account components. Is there a problem?

    Posted by Simon 29 December 2011

  • I have two accounts, one Super and one Pension account, which I opened 6 months ago. All without any additional advice from Finance Planners. I never had a glitch and I use On-line features quite often including the occasional switching. AustralianSuper has everything I need. I am not too worried about the additional user/password combination which you need to make changes to your setup. The number of investment choices is more than adequate. Thanks AustralianSuper for a great service.

    Posted by Rainer 29 December 2011

  • I can't even get started. I'm in Europe tried 4 or 5 times to login and get errors. When I ask they just say they know there are problems. What's the schedule for a fix?

    Posted by 4ever15 29 December 2011

  • not sure what the problem is...i keep giving my info and keep being told it's wrong...i check my password and member number and they are correct. so what gives? can someone please fix it.

    Posted by chris 29 December 2011

  • not sure what the problem is...i keep giving my info and keep being told it's wrong...i check my password and member number and they are correct. so what gives? can someone please fix it.

    Posted by chris 29 December 2011

  • not sure what the problem is...i keep giving my info and keep being told it's wrong...i check my password and member number and they are correct. so what gives? can someone please fix it.

    Posted by chris 29 December 2011

  • not sure what the problem is...i keep giving my info and keep being told it's wrong...i check my password and member number and they are correct. so what gives? can someone please fix it.

    Posted by chris 29 December 2011

  • Very difficult to navigate around. Asks to invest an amount of money but can't find out what the Term Deposit rates are? Therefore why invest?

    Posted by Robert K 29 December 2011

  • Any chance of a single sign on? Too confusing

    Posted by Anonymous 29 December 2011

  • I,m going crazy.. please have easier access to portfolio, it cant be that hard. you seem to have too much of what people don't want, and, not enough of what people do want. Or is that just me?

    Posted by Brian 29 December 2011

  • I am considering purchasing some blue chip Australian Shares through my AusSuper fund. AusSuper used to provide stock & price lists for ASX200. How can I access such info through the AusSuper website?

    Posted by Geoff 29 December 2011

  • Can stop losses on share purchases be set?

    Posted by Dean 29 December 2011

  • When I open my personal reports from my Apple i-Mac it just give me a page of scribble. I also can't open the education videos.

    Posted by Michael 29 December 2011

  • Currently, there are eight other ETF provider companies that are listed below, that all SMSF investors have access to on the ASX. Please allow all these other ETF providers on your platform. http://www.spdrs.com.au/ http://www.vanguard.com.au/ http://www.aii-etfs.com/ http://www.betashares.com.au/ http://www.chimaeracapital.com/ http://www.russell.com/au/ http://www.etfsecurities.com/au/welcome.asp http://www.perthmint.com.au/

    Posted by Anonymous 29 December 2011

  • now all we need is a link to the member direct login page from here... and everything would be ok..

    Posted by whatthe? 5 January 2012

  • Thanks for your feedback. At the time of publishing the article we believed that most members would want more information about the product before registering – hence the link to the overview and registration page. That said, once you’ve registered, you can access Member Direct by either logging in to your super account or by bookmarking www.memberdirect.australiansuper.com

    Posted by AustralianSuper 5 January 2012

  • The login process is unnecessarily complicated and very user unfriendly. I keep going round in circles trying to access my recent transaction history. And where is a simple login facility for member direct access once you've registered? Member Direct is a great idea incredibly poorly executed and unwieldy to access. Very disappointed so far.

    Posted by Penny T 10 January 2012

  • Hi Penny and others - a “single sign-on” process will be available sometime in 2012. For now, once registered, you can access Member Direct directly at www.memberdirect.australiansuper.com Thanks for your patience.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 11 January 2012

  • Will you offer term deposits for 3 or 5 years? Thank you for your response.

    Posted by Anonymous 17 January 2012

  • Hi Anonymous - There are no immediate plans to extend the interest rate period for term deposits beyond 365 days.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 19 January 2012

  • There are no immediate plans for the Fund to extend the interest rate period for term deposits beyond 365 days.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 20 January 2012

  • The members direct facility is a great development for those of us in the accumulation stage. Could you please advise when it will be available for members in the pension phase?

    Posted by Peter T 20 January 2012

  • We’re intending to roll out the Member Direct option to the Pension members and the current planning is for late this year. When the project details are finalised a definitive launch date will be announced.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 23 January 2012

  • I am logged in to my super account but I cannot get back to my information where do I navigate to my account. I click my account and it does nothing. I go to the login page and it says I am already logged in. Thankfully I found the member direct URL on this page. It's a very confusing web site you have.

    Posted by johnc 23 January 2012

  • Why can't people invest in their own mortgage. Shift the cash to the bank and shift a % of the asset to super account. Could save some people $100k or more over 30 years. When bank repaid then rebuy the asset interest free from super with your saved mortgage repayment. Live in your super account. If you sell then repay super account or transfer % of next dwelling. Kill 2 birds one stone and beat the taxman and banks too.( That's 4 birds, sorry )

    Posted by Malcolm Bird 26 January 2012

  • Website impossible to navigate. Spent one hour going around in circles. Come on Australian Super get your act together

    Posted by Anonymous 29 January 2012

  • While logged into the members page, I cannot log into Members Direct with the same user/password combination. Is there another way or is this a glich?

    Posted by Bernhard 30 January 2012

  • A while ago when the older version was running I did find my way around to navigate but now is somehow a bit of a nightmare. Certainly not a user’s friendly mind designing it…

    Posted by Vin 30 January 2012

  • any plans for an membersdirect app for trading etc?

    Posted by Anonymous 31 January 2012

  • Hi Bernhard, it sounds like a glitch. Can you please call us on 1300 300 273 and we'll see what we can do to fix this.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 31 January 2012

  • Ok, so once I figured out you could logon directly here; www.memberdirect.australiansuper.com it made all the difference.Once you're in the site, it's actually pretty simple to use.

    Posted by Anonymous 1 February 2012

  • Please let us members have access to all the ETF's on the ASX (click on link below) not just iShares !http://www.asx.com.au/products/managed-funds-product-list.htm

    Posted by Anonymous 2 February 2012

  • I have to agree with some comments above - I wish "portfolio at a glance" and the main menu were less crowded and the logon was smoother; but overall it's fast and looks pretty hot (better than my online banking anyway ಠ_ಠ)Any plans for an iphone app? I actually have no problems logging on, but having to adjust the zoom every time is quite annoying. Thanks!

    Posted by Chris B 3 February 2012

  • A pure gold fund would be good an alternative to fait money (cash) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_moneyAlso please extend Members Direct Option to the pension phase, ASAP; a reliable company dividend is worth its weight in gold in the pension phase

    Posted by Paul Thomas Hutchinson 5 February 2012

  • We're looking at introducing an app, or better mobile optimisation, later this year.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 6 February 2012

  • I was Wondering how long it usualy takes to transfer money, is a week too long. And who is the third party website our detailes are retrieved from?

    Posted by technical difficulties 10 February 2012

  • Cash transfer requests are processed weekly on a Monday for requests received before 11.59pm on the preceding Sunday. Your money in your transaction account is invested in an AustralianSuper cash account with UBS AG (‘UBS’). Your details are securely shared between AustralianSuper and UBS, who are regulated by APRA. For more information about UBS and to read their privacy policy, visit www.ubs.com then select country, Asia Pacific, Australia.

    Posted by AustralianSuper 12 February 2012

  • I would really really like to see a 'log-in' to Member direct button , nice and clear , on the home page of my usual website ? it is tucked away on another page that you would never know to go there on a normal day.

    Posted by Dave 16 February 2012

  • Teething problems is an understatement and should not have been deployed until you ironed out all your bugs. I would hate to be the person who made the call to deploy this debacle.1) Couldn’t transfer money into members direct and I met all criteria. Call customer services & said it was happening to a few accounts. Took 3 days to fix problem2) Ridiculous that you have to change username & password for a new site. Only company I know that requires to change both for an upgrade.3) You still have to use the old system to change some investments so you need 2 separate usernames & passwords. Why deploy if you have only finished half the job?4) Why do I need to have up to 4 windows open to make a few adjustments. Everything I click on seems to open windows on windows.5) 2 times in February I tried to sell shares but website wouldn't let me log in and told to try later. This cost me money in shares I was trying to sell.6) When you combined with some other super company and knocked out employee log in for 3 days. Couldn't pay my employees super on time.7) Hahahaha, I tried posting on this blog on the 1st of March at 10:45am and got this message: “Sorry, it seems like we are experiencing some difficulties”Australian Super really need to get your act together as you have cost me too much time & money.

    Posted by Shaggy 1 March 2012

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