BT to streamline super offerings ahead of Mercer merger
BT has confirmed the closure of Retirement Wrap super fund was part of a streamlining process of its remaining super business not part of the merger.
It would be changing the registrable superannuation entity (RSE) for BT Panorama Super, which was currently the Retirement Wrap super fund.
The accounts would be moved via a successor fund transfer (SFT) to Asgard Independence Plan Division Two superannuation fund, whose trustee BT Funds Management Limited was the trustee of Retirement Wrap.
As at September 2022, BT Panorama Super had $46.5 billion funds under management.
According to BT, the trustee made the decision to complete the transfer by considering any potential risks and taking into account the best financial interests of all fund members as a whole.
It would be the underlying fund that was changing, not the members’ super product or experience, the firm added.
Kathy Vincent, chief strategy and product officer, told Super Review: “With our corporate and personal superannuation business merging with Mercer, BT is simplifying the way we operate by moving to one fund for our platforms’ super members.
“Retirement Wrap members will continue to experience equal rights and benefits after the transfer, as they do now.
“The Trustee, BT Funds Management Limited, remains the same and there are no changes to BT Panorama Super members’ account numbers, features and functionality.”
Per the firm’s announcement mid-2022, BT’s personal and corporate superannuation funds including BT Super and BT Super for Life would be part of the merger with Mercer Super to create a $65 billion superannuation fund.
However the agreement would not include superannuation held on Westpac’s BT Panorama and Asgard platforms.
The merger was expected to take place on or around 1 April 2023.
Post the merger, BT would essentially operate as a platforms business, it said.
AUTHOR
Rhea Nath
Rhea L Nath is a journalist on Super Review and InvestorDaily, with a focus on funds management, superannuation, and institutional investment. Previously, she covered small business and entrepreneurship news at Dynamic Business and multicultural issues at Indian Link Media Group. In 2022, she was named Young Journalist of the Year at the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards.
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