Equip and Rio Tinto Staff Super Fund to merge

Equip and Rio Tinto Staff Superannuation Fund have confirmed that the funds will merge on 1 July 2017, and that acting chief executive Nicholas Vamvakas will lead the fund as CEO.

The $14 billion fund would continue under the Equip name with a membership of over 75,000.

Along with Vamvakas’ appointment, the restructured Equip board has appointed two additional independent directors, moving the fund to the one-third/ one-third/ one-third governance model.

Equip chair, Andrew Fairley AM, said Vamvakas would lead the larger fund into a new era for its members and employers, to give scale and resources to continue investment in industry-leading products and services, while keeping fees and costs as low as possible.

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“The expectations of members and employers are now much greater than ever before and have moved beyond meeting the traditional needs for strong investment returns, good governance, risk management and compliance,” Fairley said.

“They now extend to on-demand access to support and advice across multiple channels, including digital and they expect those services to be tailored to their individual needs.”

Fairley noted that the fund had established a clear and unique position in the corporate superannuation marketplace, which bridged the gap between profit-for-member industry funds and retail master trusts.

“Our focus will be to provide personalised services to members and customised reporting and advice to corporate clients. This will be the key future retention and growth and help members to achieve financial security in retirement,” he said.

The member directors of the board are Jan Dekker, Pippa Leary, and Jane Simon. The employer directors appointed are John Azaris, Mark Cerche, and Michael Clinch. The board’s independent directors are Andrew Fairley, Justine Hickey, and Wayne Walker.