Peter Philip
In preparation for the New Zealand Government’s July 1, 2007, roll-out of KiwiSaver, InvestmentLink has launched a customisable interface for registered superannuation funds and employers.
The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issued a mandate in January that requires registered superannuation providers to implement an electronic exchange system to facilitate the processing of contributions into the new opt-out, semi-compulsory superannuation scheme.
Gatekeeper is the first tranche of a suite of infrastructure technology products InvestmentLink plans to launch in the coming 12 to 18 months.
According to Peter Philip, chief executive officer of InvestmentLink Australia, the short lead-time between the announcement of the IRD regulations and the July 1 deadline for registered providers to offer a live electronic interface represented a significant barrier to the New Zealand super industry.
“IRD have mandated a complex set of interfaces that each registered fund must conform to. [It requires] a totally electronic message exchange, which is a significant cost for each fund to custom-build one,” he said.
With the requirement for rigorous testing before actively launching the systems, Philip estimates that funds wishing to be registered KiwiSaver providers were given only four months to develop a complying system.
Gatekeeper is designed as an off-the-shelf product that can be adapted to suit individual fund requirements, solving some of the cost and time constraint issues presented by the short lead-time.
Mercer NZ is among the early adopters of the system, which has been developed using InvestmentLink’s experience in developing systems to meet demand stemming from Super Choice in Australia, which currently sees up to 1.4 million members across numerous funds using its interfaces.
InvestmentLink also plans to add further functionalities later this year and in early 2008, including a rollover hub, which will launch first in Australia in 2007 before being deployed in New Zealand.
