K63 Insurance and Superannuation Funds

AustralianSuper targets $500bn after stellar 20pc return

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 6-Jul-21

AustralianSuper’s balanced option has posted a return of 20.43 per cent for 2020-21, compared with just 0.52 per cent in the previous financial year. The industry superannuation fund now boasts assets of $225m, and CEO Mark Delaney says it expects this to top $470bn by 2026. He adds that while equities are likely to perform well in 2021-22, he does not expect super funds to match their returns for 2020-21. Meanwhile, AustralianSuper has secured a deal to acquire a 40 per cent stake in the Moorebank intermodal logistics facility in Sydney.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD

Medibank pays back unused $105m

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 30-Jun-21

Private health insurer Medibank expects about two million customers of its flagship and ahm brands to be eligible for a discount on their next premium payment. Medical procedures such as elective surgery were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing policyholders from making full use of their private health coverage. HBF is among the other health funds that have previously revealed plans to return some money to its members.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, HBF HEALTH LIMITED

Super giant to reduce its stake in Ausgrid

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 18 : 30-Jun-21

Industry superannuation fund AustralianSuper proposes to reduce its stake in electricity distribution company Ausgrid from 25.2 per cent to about 10 per cent. AustralianSuper and IFM Investors paid $16bn for about 50 per cent of Ausgrid in 2016, as part of the New South Wales government’s privatisation program. AustralianSuper and IFM each have a right of first offer over any sale by the other of their Ausgrid holdings; AustralianSuper is in turn one of the largest shareholders in IFM.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, AUSGRID PTY LTD

Statewide, Hostplus in tie-up talks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 : 29-Jun-21

Superannuation funds Statewide Super and Hostplus have confirmed they are discussing a merger that would create a fund with assets of $77 billion. Statewide Super is based in Adelaide and has assets of $10.8 billion, while Hostplus has assets of $66 billion and has traditionally focused on workers in the hospitality, tourism, recreation and sports sectors. It recently announced plans to merge with the $3 billion Intrust Super, while the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority suggested in May that any super fund with assets under $30 billion would become increasingly uncompetitive against so-called megafunds.

CORPORATES
STATEWIDE SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, INTRUST SUPER FUND, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Insurers hit with flood of storm claims

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 18 : 17-Jun-21

Insurance Australia Group is the latest insurer to advise that its natural hazard allowance for 2020-21 is set to be exceeded as a result of the recent storms in Victoria. IAG says it has received about 4,300 claims arising from the storms to date, which will result in its net natural peril claim costs rising to at least $720m for the financial year. IAG had previously advised that its peril claims costs for the year would be within the range of $660m to $700m, following storms on the east coast earlier in 2021; it has a perils allowance of just $658m for the financial year.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG

Super fund satisfaction soars to a new record high as Australia recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-May-21

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction rating of 71.7% in April 2021 – an increase of 7.0% points from a year ago and up 10.7% points since October 2020. Self-Managed Funds still have the highest customer satisfaction of 81.1%, up 5.8% points from a year ago. Public Sector Funds are in a clear second place with customer satisfaction of 78.9%, up 4.8% points on a year ago. The two largest increases in satisfaction over the last year are for Industry Funds, up 6.8% points to a record high of 71.8% and Retail Funds, up by an impressive 7.2% to a near record high 67.8%. UniSuper has the highest customer satisfaction rating of the Industry Funds, ahead of Cbus, AustralianSuper and Catholic Super. The highest placed Retail Super Fund is OnePath, followed by MLC, Colonial First State and ASGARD. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Mergers of super funds to cut costs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 : 21-May-21

Consolidation in Australia’s superannuation industry has increased in recent years, including the upcoming merger between LGIAsuper and Energy Super. The merged entity will have $22bn worth of assets under management, which will increase to $28bn when it completes a deal to acquire Suncorp’s wealth business. LGIAsuper CEO Kate Farrar believes that smaller funds will continue to have a role in the super industry, although she expects the average size of boutique funds to increase to between $30bn and $50bn.

CORPORATES
LGIASUPER, ENERGY SUPER

Small super funds return a higher level of satisfaction for investors

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-May-21

Research by CoreData shows that superannuation funds with assets of less than $20bn outperform their larger peers in terms of customer satisfaction. Smaller funds received an overall score of 63 among members who have retired and a score of 53.2 with regard to preparedness for retirement. In contrast, large super funds received a rating of 57.7 among retirees and just 46.9 among pre-retirees. The survey of more than 4,000 respondents has coincided with a regulatory push for smaller super funds to merge.

CORPORATES
COREDATA PTY LTD

Super shines as economy bounces back

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 21-Apr-21

Data from Chant West shows that the median growth superannuation fund achieved a return of 12.2 per cent in the first nine months of 2020-21. Mano Mohankumar of Chant West says super funds are on track to deliver a double-digit return for the financial year. The median growth fund gained 3.3 per cent in the March quarter and 2.2 per cent so far in April. Hostplus and Sunsuper are among the growth funds that have posted returns of more than 20 per cent so far in 2020-21.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, SUNSUPER PTY LTD

RAA tops for general insurance customer satisfaction – marginally ahead of RACT, RAC and Shannons

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Apr-21

The latest Roy Morgan General Insurance Satisfaction report shows that South Australia-based RAA had the highest general insurance satisfaction rating of 94% in December 2020, an increase of 3% on a year ago. It is followed by Tasmania’s RACT with a customer satisfaction rating of 92% (down 1%), Western Australia’s RAC on 92% (up 5%) and Suncorp Group-owned Shannons on 91% (up 1%). The largest improvement among the leaders for general insurance satisfaction has been by the Suncorp Group’s Bingle, which increased customer satisfaction by 8% points during 2020 to an impressive 88%. The larger general insurance brands which cater to a more diverse range of customers nation-wide have also had a good year, with improvements in customer satisfaction across the board. The big improvers include CommInsure (up 8% points on a year ago), Budget Direct (up 8% points), Allianz (up 5% points), and the larger State-based RACQ in Queensland (up 5% points) and NRMA in NSW (up 3% points). Overall in December 2020 a majority of 82% of Australians are satisfied with their general insurer, up 3% points from the same time a year ago (79%). These latest results are based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 50,000 consumers per annum, including over 35,000 with general insurance.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RAA INSURANCE LIMITED, RACT INSURANCE PTY LTD, RAC INSURANCE PTY LTD, SHANNONS, BINGLE.COM PTY LTD, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, COMMINSURE, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RACQ INSURANCE LIMITED, NRMA INSURANCE LIMITED