Westpac sells BT Super to Mercer

Westpac and BT Funds Management have entered into a Heads of Agreement to merge, through a successor fund transfer (SFT), BT’s personal and corporate superannuation funds with Mercer Super Trust.

Additionally, Westpac entered into an agreement to sell its Advance Asset Management business to Mercer Australia.

In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Westpac said the merger of BT Super and sale of Advance remained subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals and was expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

The merger was of BT’s personal and corporate superannuation funds which had total funds under administration of $37.8 billion at the end of March 2022 and included the Westpac employee default plan. Westpac said BT employees who supported these funds would be offered employment by Mercer as part of the agreement.

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The merger did not include superannuation held on Westpac’s BT Panorama and Asgard platforms.

The bank said the SFT would result in a small loss as a result of transaction and separation costs and the sale of Advance would result in a gain. The net effect of both over the remainder of FY22 and FY23 was expected to be an after-tax gain of $225 million.

Trustee chair, Gai McGrath, said: “The trustee engaged broadly across the industry and after a robust and competitive process this merger will create a larger superannuation fund with the potential to deliver improved performance, lower fees, and broader member services”.