Catholic Super has finally confirmed rumours around a possible merger with another fund, today confirming it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoA) with Equipsuper to move toward a joint venture.
The MoA would, subject to due diligence, establish a joint venture trustee that would initially manager over $26 billion in funds for about 150,000 members of the two funds.
The two funds brought similar values to the agreement, with both profit-to-member funds committing to keeping a skills-based governance structure focused on members’ interests, with a third of all directors being independent.
The announcement came as many funds look to consolidation, following recommendations from both the Banking Royal Commission and the Productivity Commission.
“This joint venture would contain costs and improve efficiency, bringing real benefits to members. It is positive proof the Extended Public Offer (EPO) model provides a solution to funds who value their brands and connection to community, while enabling economies of scale,” Equipsuper chair, Andrew Fairley, said.
“This joint venture will be ideally positioned for future growth. This structure will drive stronger performance through efficiencies and scale of investments.”
“The Joint Venture is the perfect pathway, bringing our members the benefits of scale while retaining the Catholic Super identity and strong connection with those working in Catholic institutions and communities,” Catholic Super chair, Danny Casey, added.
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.