POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Equipsuper and Vision Super merger breaks off
Equipsuper has withdrawn from merger plans with Vision Super, stating it would not be in members' best interests.
The fund withdrew after the pair failed to reach an agreement following 12 months of negotiations. Equipsuper said Vision Super failed to agree to prearranged requirements centred around the Equipsuper investment model.
An Equipsuper representative said the Euipsuper board felt the merger was unworkable without the investment model, as the synergies, benefits and savings sought by the merger would be lost.
Equipsuper said the benefits of economies of scale found in a merger between the funds could only be possible with a board that was "collaborative and effective" and committed to its investment model.
"Over the past 12 months, the board of Vision Super has failed to meet key dates, provide essential information and has breached or continuously sought to change several key parts of our Memorandum of Understanding and Shareholders' Deed," Equipsuper chair Andrew Fairley said.
Issues in negotiations came to light last May after Equipsuper released a statement saying Vision Super board members were unable to sign off on previously agreed governance issues.
Despite this, in July, Fairley and Vision Super chair Darren Cochrane confirmed the merger would go ahead.
The merger would have created a super fund with almost $10 billion in assets and 160,000 members, making it amongst the 10 largest superannuation funds in Australia.
Equipsuper said that after investing a significant amount of time and resources, it did not have confidence that the merger was in the best interests of its members.
It said that while rationalisation of the industry was the way forward, any future merger plans would need to align with members' best interests.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Money Management staff writers are writers who contribute to the website from time to time. If you would like to discuss the content contained within this article please contact us.
Recommended for you
Super funds have built on early financial year momentum, as growth funds deliver strong results driven by equities and resilient bonds.
The super fund has announced that Mark Rider will step down from his position of chief investment officer (CIO) after deciding to “semi-retire” from full-time work.
Rest has joined forces with alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital, co-investing in a real estate trust, with the aim of capitalising on systemic changes in debt financing.
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
76.97 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
76.46 3 y p.a(%)
3
UBS Solactive Global Pure Gold Miners UCITS ETF Dis USD
51.13 3 y p.a(%)
4
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
45.15 3 y p.a(%)
5
Select Baker steel Gold Institutional
43.78 3 y p.a(%)
