National Australia Bank (NAB) has moved to up the ante in the superannuation space by leveraging the structural separation of its insurance business to create Australia's largest retail superannuation fund.
The big banking group has used the structural separation process to effectively consolidate its superannuation trustee arrangements around a single fund — MLC Super Fund.
The company announced that the fund would boast around $70 billion in funds under management (FUM) and would include NAB's existing super offerings — MLC MasterKey and Plum superannuation and pensions.
Discussing the move with Super Review, MLC Wealth Advice executive general manager, Greg Miller, described the process as having amounted to a large simplification of the trustee arrangements around the various superannuation products.
He said the banking group had been progressively informing clients of the changes.
NAB superannuation and investment platforms executive general manager, Paul Carter, said the consolidation of the super fund would, over time, make it easier for customers to move between various products and features with the fund.
The transaction with Nippon Life required the structural separation of the life insurance manufacturing business and the superannuation and investments business. Prior to the consolidation process, there were eight superannuation funds under three trustees.
Australian super funds have extended their winning streak into September, as strong global equities and resilient long-term returns boost member outcomes.
The super fund has appointed long-serving technology leader Richard Exton to its executive team, underscoring the fund’s digital transformation priorities.
Valuations of the major US tech companies are becoming elevated, according to UniSuper’s chief investment officer John Pearce, but not yet at bubble territory.
The country’s largest super fund has launched a £500 million UK housing platform to expand its living sector investments and support economic growth.
So what says Silkie; mine is still bigger than yours.