Tasplan and MTAA Super are considering merging, announcing they had entered a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to investigate the move just hours after Money Management’s sister publication, Super Review, confirmed that the former fund’s merger discussions with Statewide Super and WA Super had fallen through.
Statewide Super announced on Friday that it was no longer pursuing its merger discussions with Tasplan and WA Super, with Tasplan seemingly only finding out at the last minute. The fund told Super Review: “"Tasplan has today been advised by Statewide Super of their withdrawal from the triparted MOU process."
Should the merger between Tasplan and MTAA Super go ahead, it would create an industry super fund with more than $22 billion in funds under management and 328,000 members. Both funds said that the best interests of members would be the deciding factor in the MoU talks, with a priority on providing quality services and member outcomes.
“We anticipate that the increased scale will deliver efficiencies that can be passed on to members by way of product and service improvement, competitive fees and returns,” Tasplan chair, Naomi Edwards, and MTAA Super chair, John Brumby, said in a joint statement.
“While there is still much work to be done, we are excited by the prospect of building a fund of significant scale, enjoying widespread national membership and offering further improvements in benefits to our members over time.”
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.
The fund has unveiled reforms to streamline death benefit payments, cut processing times, and reduce complexity.
A ratings firm has placed more prominence on governance in its fund ratings, highlighting that it’s not just about how much money a fund makes today, but whether the people running it are trustworthy, disciplined, and able to deliver for members in the future.
AMP has reached an agreement in principle to settle a landmark class action over fees charged to members of its superannuation funds, with $120 million earmarked for affected members.