Kogan Plans to Enter the Superannuation Market

On Wednesday morning, Kogan announced its new deal with Mercer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, in a bid to become a competitor in the superannuation industry.

According to Kogan, its decision to enter the super market stemmed from a desire to manage a share of the 28.6 million Aussie super accounts, which represent a combined total of more than $2.6 trillion in assets.

Executive Director of Kogan.com, David Shafer, says Kogan is looking forward to bringing its new super product to the Australian market.

“This partnership will deliver a no frills superannuation offering with ultra-low fees that will enable Aussies to retain and preserve more of their personal wealth,” he said.

“Kogan.com’s mission is to deliver price leadership through digital efficiency, and we are proud to be able to help Australians preserve more of their hard-earned money by delivering an ultra-low superannuation solution.”

Ben Walsh, the CEO and managing director of Mercer believes the combination of Kogan’s e-commerce expertise and Mercer’s global-scale and super know-how will allow Kogan Super to make an impact on the Australian market.

“In an industry where scale and cost efficiencies count, this new alliance will enable Kogan to create value at scale through their trusted online brand and huge customer base,” Walsh said.

Over the last few years, Kogan has taken major steps to disrupt more than just the e-commerce market. Most recently, the company introduced plans for its Kogan Money product offering, which will see the online giant partner with Adelaide Bank and Pepper Group Limited to offer competitive home loans to homeowners and investors.

At the time, Kogan said Kogan Money would be the first of a number of new financial products and services that would be rolled out as part of the company’s expansion plans.

Will Kogan and Shafer Offload More Shares? 

Off the back of this announcement, it could be speculated that founding directors Ruslan Kogan and Shafer could be planning to offload more shares. When Kogan Money was launched in September, it only took one day for the directors to announce the sale of $40 million of shares. This seems to be becoming a trend for the business’s founders, with them also selling shares in June after announcing plans to enter the Whitegoods market. While shares in Kogan.com typically soar after new product and service announcements, they quickly drop again when the company’s directors offload more shares. In September the sale of 6.25 million shares saw the price drop 8.5 percent to $6.43.

So far, Kogan and Shafer have sold more than $100 million in shares this year alone, leaving investors concerned about the directors’ plans for the future.

More details surrounding Kogan Money and Kogan Super are expected to be released closer to their 2019 releases.

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