A Smart move into the world’s fifth largest pension market

Retirement technology provider Smart has set up in Australia to tap into the country’s US$2.8 trillion pension market. The company is opening its Australian headquarters in Melbourne, a city with an expansive fintech ecosystem.

The move comes after Australia introduced the Retirement Income Covenant. The Covenant seeks to provide pension funds with greater flexibility in designing their retirement income strategies.

The world’s fifth largest pension market

As part of its move, Smart spoke to over 2,000 Australians. It found only 22% of those aged 55 and older feel like they understand their options at retirement.

‘That’s where we come in,’ says Andrew Evans, co-founder of Smart. ‘Our AI and guided navigation tools can be accessed by people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The tools simplify retirement savings and open up huge amounts of value to people.

‘We’re really excited to bring our technology to bear in Australia, creating jobs and bringing further innovation to one of the most mature retirement ecosystems on the planet.’

Australia has the world’s fifth largest pension market, worth US$2.8 trillion (A$3.9 trillion) in 2021. Australian pension fund assets rose to 170% of GDP in 2021, up from 72% in 2001 (Source: Why Australia Benchmark Report 2022, accessed September 2022).

Further information on Smart is available at www.smart.co and www.smartretire.com.au.

How Austrade helped

Austrade has worked with Smart since 2018. To support Smart’s entry into Australia, Austrade provided information on:

• Australia’s Consumer Data Right and New Payments Platform, policy, and regulatory updates
• the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, and the Mobility and Financial Service/Fintech chapters of the agreement and the implications for Smart
• the UK-Australia FinTech Bridge
• opportunities to provide services from Australia to the wider APAC region, including Austrade exporter support and the Export Market Development Grants scheme.

Austrade also hosted Smart at breakfast briefings, business networking events and fintech events in London and Amsterdam. The agency also introduced Smart to the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce for advice on visa options.