smartMonday members more active over climate change

Our recent survey uncovered smartMonday members’ wants and fears for the future. Thomas McCann explains.

Late last year, surveyed smartMonday members told us about their priorities: from their likeliness to invest responsibly to what they most want to know about superannuation.

We want to explain the results of the survey, not only so you can understand the perspective of other fund members, but because they are shaping our priorities in what we’ll communicate to you this year and onward.

The first thing smartMonday members want to know about is our investment performance, with general updates on financial markets, and how to manage their superannuation.

We’re really pleased with these findings as this is what we’ve focused on in our communications with you. We’re committed to updating members at least every three months on the performance of investments and the market. And we have a scheduled program of ‘how to’ content we’ll be releasing throughout the year to aid you in managing your super.

When it comes to members’ broader concerns, we sought attitudes to climate change in particular. In this matter the results were clear: smartMonday members are much more aware and focused on climate change than the average Australian. To break down the findings:

• On a scale of seven attitudes, from dismissive to alarmed, just over one third of you are alarmed about the impact of climate change, compared with just over a quarter of Australians feeling the same according to The Sunrise Project’s findings in its 2022 Climate Compass Report.
• A further 47% of smartMonday members are alert, cautious or concerned – about the same as the Australian population.
• While only 17% of you are disengaged, doubtful or dismissive (compared with 30% of Australians).
• The majority of our members say they’re likely to invest their super in an option that responsibly manages environmental, governance and social impact. About one third of you are uncertain, with only 13% unlikely.

We also found out the majority of our members do not know of our smartCoach service – so we’ll do a better job of communicating that this year. Briefly, our smartCoaches provide guidance to members in superannuation matters. This team are trained experts who have guided members in their super for years. Check out our article What a smartCoach can do for you and our smartCoach retirement advice page to get a better idea.

We appreciate all the feedback to our survey and are delighted with the enthusiasm of our members. As we head into the new year the smartMonday team will be doing all it can to inform and engage you as you prepare for your life after work.

About the survey: It was held in October last year, open to all active members, who were invited to enter by mail and email. Eight questions were asked, with an iPhone offered as prize (Abdul from NSW was the randomly chosen winner). About 2000 members responded, providing a solid sample for us to judge responses by.

Thomas McCann is head of member experience at smartMonday