NewsmakersJune 17, 2022

Australian Pension Funds Mercy Super and HESTA to Merge

Proposed deal is the latest in an ongoing consolidation within the industry.

Reported by Michael Katz

Australian pension funds Mercy Super and HESTA have agreed to merge via a successor fund transfer, the latest deal in an ongoing wave of consolidation among the country’s superannuation funds.

The funds are currently conducting due diligence and aim to complete the merger before the end of the year, says a press release. Once completed, the merger would lead to 13,000 Mercy Super members being transferred to HESTA and its 930,000 members, creating a fund with almost A$70 billion ($48.9 billion) in assets under management.

After Mercy Super had conducted an analysis of all relevant funds matching its selection criteria for scale and improved member outcomes, its board chose to enter into exclusive talks with HESTA, according to the release, which cites the pension fund’s “strong track record of performance, future sustainability and deep links to the health sector.”

Mercy noted that both funds have a significant female majority among their membership: 80% of HESTA members are women, as are 77% of Mercy Super members.

“In HESTA we have chosen a top performing fund that shares our same commitment to the health sector and those working in it,” Mercy Super CEO Wendy Tancred said in a statement.

Mercy Super, which has approximately $1.7 billion in funds under management, was established in 1962 by the Sisters of Mercy Queensland to provide benefits for employees of Brisbane’s Mater Hospital and other Sisters of Mercy organizations.

The combination is the latest in a slew of recent merger deals among Australian pension funds. In April, pension funds Australian Ethical and Christian Super announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer Christian Super’s members to Australian Ethical’s super fund. Also in April, Hostplus and Statewide Super announced they were merging after starting discussions last year. And in March, Sunsuper, QSuper and Australian Post Super Scheme merged to create a new pension fund called Australian Retirement Trust.