Executive profile: Carrie Norman, Chief Member Officer

I started my career in marketing over 20 years ago, and have worked across the trustee and legal, energy and superannuation sectors. I began working in superannuation just before the GFC hit which became a very important and interesting time as funds started making significant improvements to the way they listened to and engaged their members to help minimise the impact on retirement savings and increase confidence.

Having a natural curiosity for how things fit together and for solving customer and business needs, I have led teams across a broad range of functions including marketing, digital, customer experience, member and employer services, business development, advice, analytics, administration, insurance, product and business transformation.

Having worked in both medium and larger sized super funds, the prospect of working for a boutique fund, with a specialised market focus, and the ability to directly observe the impact and value that your efforts deliver to members was really appealing. Also, there was strong appetite and desire to continually reflect and improve the way legalsuper operates. I joined legalsuper two years ago – during the Melbourne COVID-19 lockdowns – and the focus on inclusion and connection in the way I was welcomed made what could have been a challenging start a very positive introduction to the fund and its culture.

As the Chief Member Officer, I represent members across our operations and ensure they are at the heart of everything we do. We continue to explore new ways of supporting members to enhance their financial wellbeing through highly personalised experiences, clear information and tailored products that we deliver throughout their working lives and beyond.

Superannuation is often one of the largest assets an individual will have in their lifetime but can sometimes appear distant, daunting or complex. What I love is that through really understanding our members we’re able to continually evolve the experience we deliver to make our members' lives that bit easier when it comes to understanding and making decisions about their super. It’s these changes, and early action that can make a big difference to members’ financial futures.

Personalised service is at the core of our offering and while face-to-face contact has always been central – and is emerging again as a valued offering to our members – digital channels are also highly valued. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made to further develop our digital experience to provide members with a greater choice of channel in how they receive personalised support resulting in some significant improvements, including:

• Adviser Online – our online advice tool that can be used directly by members or supported by our Member Services team.
• New secure member portal – providing members with greater security and additional functionality to engage and transact with their super.
• New streamlined online join to make joining legalsuper as easy as possible.
• Webinars – the ability to manage your webinar booking attend the webinar and ask questions, conveniently online. We also deliver workplace webinars and in-person seminar to cater for hybrid work arrangements.
• Added more video updates and video guides to make it easier to stay up-to-date on legalsuper’s performance and any changes to super.

Our focus for the year ahead is on further enhancing our delivery of highly personalised experiences and support, ensuring that every interaction we have with members, regardless of the channel, is consistent, relevant, meaningful and further enables members to make decisions that build greater financial wellbeing.

Throughout my time in super I have heard countless people approaching or in retirement say they wish they had started thinking about super earlier. I have never once heard anyone say it was a waste of time engaging early with their super. There is an important lesson to learn from those who have walked the path before us.

I  love being outdoors, whether that’s taking the kids and the dog to a park, going for a bike ride or spending time with my horse.  I also enjoy travelling, good wine and spending time with family and friends – or anything that combines all three!