Equip eyes new merger under re-formed team

Equip Super plans to grow assets to $15 billion and pursue a merger with one or a number of smaller funds under a recently confirmed leadership team.

The industry fund will expand on member services and financial planning capabilities until 2015, when it hopes to have found a merger partner according to Equip Super's executive officer of strategic marketing and communications, Geoff Brooks.

"The plan is to get to about $9-11 billion with organic activity, and then - at the back end of that time, so 2015 - a merger. We're probably looking at a fund, or funds, amounting to about $4 billion or $5 billion out of that $15 (billion)," he said. 

The news has come three months after Equip pulled out of merger plans with Vision Super.

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The multi-sector fund has 53,000 members and $5 billion in assets. Brooks said, although not biased towards sector or location, the energy industry in NSW or SA where Equip already had a large employer were possibilities. Equip was researching its ideal partner now, he said.

Brooks said some of the growth plan had developed from the failed merger with Vision, although the details were not that different now. 

He said they would seek further corporate funds and try to soak up rogue sections of businesses that formed its existing employer base to grow the fund until 2015.

Justin Saddler became Equips' executive officer of advice in July and last year it opened a financial planning office in Traralgon to service a small but wealthy cohort of defined benefit members. Brooks said it was also pursuing a scalable advice model.

He said Equip was implementing term deposits, slated for the end of the year, and was reviewing a direct equity platform to customise its financial planning services, which would become a "cornerstone" of its retention strategy.

The super fund confirmed a number of other appointments, including Michael Strachan as chief investment officer and John Rodd as chief financial officer.