Why We Built SuperAnne (And Why It's Different)
By Gary Bryan, Chief Product Officer
InvestStream set out to solve a problem that's been an issue for the Australian superannuation industry for decades: how do members gain a lifelong connection to financial literacy and wealth creation? Various member surveys have illustrated that one in three Australians (37%) say that their super doesn’t feel like their money, and incredibly this jumps to 49% for those under the age of 401.
But we made a conscious decision not to build just another financial app.
This isn't a fixed path robo or digital advice journey. SuperAnne is designed to feel like having a conversation with a trusted friend who hears what you say and understands how to guide you through complex topics. No rigid decision trees or one-size-fits-all approaches here.
Our timing couldn't be better. With ASFA strongly backing the expansion of collectively charged advice through the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms, the industry is recognising what we've built into SuperAnne from day one: that quality financial guidance shouldn't be a luxury reserved for the few. These reforms validate our approach - transforming complex retirement data into simple insights to all members through scalable, auditable technology that funds can confidently offer under collective charging arrangements.
AI is everywhere, but most implementations in finance fall short. On the surface solving this problem should be simple, right? Place some pretty screens on top of ChatGPT and you have a product. Or maybe attempt the same but add some calculators built on legacy tech and not localised for the domain. But that is not really the way to solve this problem.
While we leverage AI capabilities for a small part of the offering, we've built something fundamentally different around these tools. Behind every conversation are robust, well-documented, and fully auditable financial calculators that meet the exacting standards of a sophisticated cashflow modelling solution demanded by the industry, previously accessible only to skilled paraplanners.
This is about empowerment, not automation. We believe members deserve to understand their financial decisions, not just have them made for them. SuperAnne helps people build genuine confidence in their super choices through personalised, explainable guidance.
The technical challenge was immense. Building enterprise-grade financial modelling tools that are both accurate to stand up to audit and intuitive enough for everyday members? That's not trivial. Every calculation can be traced, every option explained, every assumption made transparent in natural language.
Six weeks. One lean team. A platform that changes how members engage with their superannuation.
Sometimes the best solutions come from refusing to accept "that's just how it's done" as an answer.
1The Australian - Why your superannuation doesn't feel like your own money (subscriber access only).
