CareSuper and Spirit Super have confirmed they are on track to deliver on their merger later this year.
The merger is expected to take effect from 1 November and the newly formed entity will be called CareSuper.
Explaining the name change, current CareSuper chair Linda Scott said: “While this is a true merger of equals, both funds decided it was in the best interests of members to call the fund CareSuper to take advantage of strong recognition for the name, which has been in the market since 1986.
“Elements of the Spirit Super brand identity will be retained to highlight our shared national heritage and member focus, including Spirit Super’s distinctive logo which enjoys strong and positive recognition among its membership.”
The funds first announced they were exploring a potential merger in November 2022 and subsequently entered into a memorandum of understanding.
Following an extensive due diligence process, Spirit Super and CareSuper entered into a binding agreement to merge in June 2023.
At the time, they flagged the merger was expected to be completed in late 2024, with the combined entity to be chaired by Scott.
Jason Murray, CEO of Spirit Super since February 2022, would become the CEO of the combined fund.
From 1 November 2024, the rest of the designated executive team will comprise:
Commenting on the merger update, Spirit Super CEO Murray confirmed members and stakeholders “will be kept informed as the merger progresses”.
“We’re moving forward confidently to deliver even greater products, services and experiences for our collective membership,” Murray said.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
ASIC chair Joe Longo has delivered a blunt warning to superannuation trustees, cautioning that board-level ignorance of member complaints and internal failings will not be tolerated and could trigger enforcement action.
ART has cautioned regulators against imposing overlapping obligations on superannuation funds already operating under APRA’s comprehensive framework, saying that additional oversight should be “carefully targeted to address potential gaps in other parts of the market”.
The super fund has appointed Simone Van Veen as chief member officer.