Mercer Super has announced it had acquired the Holden Employees Superannuation Fund (HESF).
This followed the fund’s merger with BT Super and Lutheran Super, and recently reached 850,000 members and $63 billion in funds under management.
The two funds signed an agreement to merge HESF into Mercer Super Trust through successor fund transfer (SFT). The SFT was expected to occur on or around 1 June, 2023.
“We’re very proud of the partnership we’ve built with HESF over many years, and look forward to welcoming HESF members to Mercer Super in the coming weeks,” said Tim Barber, Mercer Super’s chief executive.
“Mercer Super is on a growth trajectory, and our intention is to keep growing and investing in Mercer Super for the benefit of our members. Scale provides natural flow-on effects for members, with the identifiable benefit being competitive fees,” he added.
Barber also identified the ‘less tangible benefits’ of the merger, including enhanced education, engagement, expanded choice and an improved member experience.
“We have an ongoing commitment to improving our capability and capacity to help even more Australians through their retirement journey,” he concluded.
In a recent interview with Super Review, the chief executive noted that Mercer was not “merging to survive”, but instead was focused on adding value to its client proposition.
“We would like to do more mergers if the right ones arise, we think that growth is now enabled and we are in a stronger position to grow now because our competitive position is enhanced,” he said.
In its pre-election policy document, the FSC highlighted 15 priority reforms, with superannuation featuring prominently, urging both major parties to avoid changing super taxes without a comprehensive tax review.
The Grattan Institute has labelled the Australian super system as “too complicated” and has proposed a three-pronged reform strategy to simplify superannuation in retirement.
Super funds delivered a strong 2024 result, with the median growth fund returning 11.4 per cent, driven by strong international sharemarket performance, new data has shown.
Australian Ethical has seen FUM growth of 27 per cent in the financial year to date.