SUPERANNUATION – AUSTRALIA

Swan as new Cbus chairman an ‘insult to workers’: CFMEU

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 8-Sep-21

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has described the appointment of former Labor minister Wayne Swan as chairman of industry superannuation fund Cbus as the "height of hypocrisy". The CFMMEU says the appointment is an "insult to construction workers", given Swan’s role in maintaining the building industry watchdog during his tenure as federal treasurer and deputy prime minister. The union has also suggested that there is a conflict of interests due to Swan’s role as Labor’s national president.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND

Fess-up time: top-performing super funds put duds to shame

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 2-Sep-21

The superannuation performance test data shows that Active Super was the best default MySuper fund over a seven-year period, with an average return of 9.46 per cent. It is followed by AustralianSuper (9.44 per cent) and Hostplus (9.33 per cent return). The lowest average return for the 10 best performing funds was 8.75 per cent. In contrast, EISS had the lowest average return among the 10 worst-performing funds, at just six per cent.

CORPORATES
ACTIVE SUPER, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, EISS SUPER

Super funds post strong July gains after big year

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 19-Aug-21

Data from Chant West shows that the median growth superannuation fund gained 1.1 per cent in July, matching the rise in the Australian sharemarket for the period. This follows a return of 18 per cent for 2020-21, and the median growth fund has now gained about 27 per cent since reaching a coronavirus-induced low in late March 2020. International shares gained 1.7 per cent in hedged terms during July, while emerging markets shares fell 4.7 per cent in unhedged terms.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD

Super fund satisfaction near record highs in June with HESTA the top fund ahead of Cbus and Unisuper

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Jul-21

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction rating of 71.7% in June 2021 – an increase of 8.6% points from June 2020, and up 6.9% points over the last six months. The rating for June is just below the record high reached a month ago and continues a series of excellent customer satisfaction ratings over the first half of 2021 as the Australian economy recovered and Australian stock markets reached new record highs. HESTA has the highest customer satisfaction rating among Industry Funds, ahead of Cbus, UniSuper, AustralianSuper and Catholic Super. The highest placed Retail Super Fund is OnePath, followed by Colonial First State, MLC and ASGARD. The strong performance of the stock market during the first half of 2021 has helped drive customer satisfaction in Industry Funds to a new record high in June 2021 of 72.3%, up 8.2% points on a year ago. Customer satisfaction is also near record highs for Public Sector Funds at 79.7% in June (up 7.6% points on a year ago), and satisfaction Retail Funds is at 67.8% (up 9.7% points on a year ago). However, the highest customer satisfaction is again for Self-Managed Funds at 80.6%, which have experienced the largest increase of 10.7% points from a year ago. 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.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

AustralianSuper targets $500bn after stellar 20pc return

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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

Super giant to reduce its stake in Ausgrid

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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

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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

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

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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.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Mergers of super funds to cut costs

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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

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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