Mergers Continue Across Australian Supers

After a lengthy delay, Australia’s Mine Super and TWUSUPER have merged to become the A$22 billion (US$13.88 billion) Team Super, as of last week.

Earlier in the week, CareSuper, the retirement fund for people in professional, managerial, administrative, and service occupations, announced it is set to merge with the union-sponsored fund serving workers in the meat industry. CareSuper, which has A$56 billion (US$35.34 billion) in assets and around 550,000 members, said it struck a binding merger agreement with the Meat Industry Employees’ Superannuation Fund, which has A$1 billion (US$630 million) in assets and 56,000 members.

The mergers, which are part of a recent trend in Australia, are intended to help the providers deliver benefits to members at minimum cost.

For the Team Super creation, the merged entity has 150,000 members and is led by chief executive Vasyl Nair. Seamus Collins is the CIO, while Matthew Licheri is the chief operating officer.

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In February, Sarah Forman joined as chief retirement officer from Aware Super. Mario Garrido took on the role of chief growth officer and Keith Wells-Jansz is now chief financial officer. State Street was chosen to be the master custodian.

In preparation for the merger, the fund “revitalized its executive team with a series of internal promotions and external appointments adding further strength to the management group,” according to Nair.

Team Super co-chairs Christina Langby and Nick Sherry, in a statement, said: “Today marks a momentous step in the journey of Mine Super and TWUSUPER. With the completion of the merger, we now begin our next exciting chapter as Team Super, where we can realize greater benefits for our members and continue to help them achieve the retirement they deserve.”

For TWUSUPER members, a merged entity means a reduction in annual administration fee by 50%, while direct expense recovery fees will lower by 36%. They will also see at least a 2% reduction on insurance premiums.

Mine Super and TWUSUPER signed a successor fund transfer deed in September 2023. The merger experienced significant delays but the two funds did not offer an explanation.

CareSuper-MIESF Merger

Regarding the CareSuper-MIESF merger, Linda Scott and MIESF chair Chris White said that the binding agreement is a critical step forward in serving members’ best financial interests. The merger is contingent on the funds completing necessary assessments and signing a Successor Fund Transfer Deed.

“Both funds recognize our shared focus on putting members first and the importance of providing strong retirement outcomes combined with excellent service and personalized advice to our members,” they said, in a statement.

Financial Standard previously reported CareSuper and MIESF were exploring the viability of a merger, having entered a Heads of Agreement and commenced due diligence in November last year, just weeks after CareSuper’s merger with Spirit Super was completed.

This information originally appeared in our sister publication, Financial Standard, which, like CIO, is owned by ISS STOXX.

Tags: CareSuper, Meat Industry Employees' Superannuation Fund, Seamus Collins, Superannuation, Team Super

Led by its public equities portfolio, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s investments returned 9.7% for 2024, raising its asset value to C$123 billion (US$85.2 billion) from C$112.6 billion a year earlier. The pension fund also reported a funded ratio of 111%, which is the 15th straight year its assets were higher than its liabilities.

The pension fund’s public equity assets returned 17.9% for the year, followed by private equity, which earned 12.7%, and infrastructure investments, which gained 12.3%. Its private credit investments returned 11.3%, while its real estate and fixed-income holdings were up 1.9% and 1.4% respectively.

The pension fund attributed the robust funded ratio to initiatives enacted during the year, including the approval of a benefit formula improvement for eligible active members who had were participants in the plan in 2023, as well as retired and deferred members receiving a full cost of living adjustment.

HOOPP stated that Canadian bonds are “the backbone” of its investing strategy, noting that with the fluctuations of the market, bonds provide liquid collateral that supports its other investments. It also reported that the advantage of having liquidity allows it to diversify its portfolio among asset classes and locations.

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“As I like to say, HOOPP is a buyer when others are sellers,” HOOPP CIO Michael Wissell said in a statement. “As a result of our focus on ensuring liquidity, the global economic volatility we saw in 2024 was an opportunity for us rather than a barrier to success.”

As of the end of 2024, half of its assets were in investments based in Canada, with 27% in the U.S, 14% in Europe, 7% in Asia Pacific, and 2% in other places..

Regarding its climate strategy, HOOPP reported its goal to have 80% of plan assets to report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2025. And by 2030, the fund’s goal is to reduce its real estate portfolio’s emissions by 50%, have 50% of its infrastructure and private equity portfolios covered by credible transition plans, and to commit more than C$23 billion to green investments.

HOOPP also reported that the plan’s membership grew by approximately 18,000 during the year to more than 478,000 as it added 32 employers to raise its year-end total to 709.