Cost savings more than expected for Equip

In response to better than expected cost savings following its merger with the Rio Tinto Staff Superannuation Fund in July 2017, Equip expects to announce more fee reductions later this year.

Equip originally estimated the total savings would amount to around $10 million a year, however the fund now expects annual savings to reach up to 20 per cent more.

Chief Executive Officer, Nick Vamvakas, said the cost savings would be of substantial benefit to the 75,000 members.

“By 1 July, 2018, we believe our fees will be among the lowest in the industry, with potential through future mergers to push them even lower,” Vamvakas said.

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Vamvakas said the fund worked with KPMG to model the merger, but that cost saving projections were proving to be conservative.

“Delivering cost benefits for members and our defined benefit employers was a cornerstone requirement for us to merge. The trustee of the Rio Tinto Staff Superannuation Fund also saw this as a core criterion,” he said.

Vamvakas said while it is relatively easy to model the bigger terms of mergers, like custodian and administration costs, lots of incidental savings can often fly under the radar.

“Such things as membership and licensing fees, technology enhancement and new opportunities for greater utilisation of internal resources and services are the sort of things that add considerable commercial value to the merging funds,” he said.

Vamvakas added that the success of the merger with the Rio Tinto fund was just the beginning of Equip’s growth journey.

“This is a working model for ourselves, our commercial partners and advisers. Throughout this merger, we have been actively engaging with other funds by proactively modelling potential benefits for funds of all different membership profiles,” he said.