Amidst a booming year of M&A activity continuing to reshape the superannuation landscape, Super Review has compiled the top 10 mergers of 2022.
The super industry had experienced a rapid wave of merger activity throughout the year, with APRA expecting another two years of consolidation to occur.
According to KPMG, over 40 merger announcements had been made in the last five years. This had led to the number of super funds decreasing by half when compared to a decade ago.
With Mercy Super describing the merging of small funds as “inevitable”, alongside J.P. Morgan predicting the number of funds to fall below 75 by 2025, these are the largest mergers that occurred during 2022.
February
The merger between QSuper and Sunsuper, which Canstar described as the largest merger in Australian history, produced a combined funds under management (FUM) of $230 billion.
Now known as Australian Retirement Trust (ART), the fund has over 2,500 employees and more than two million members.
March
Just a month later, the newly combined mega-fund announced its newest merger partner: Australia Post Superannuation. The deal increased its $230 billion FUM by another $8 billion and welcomed 28,000 new members.
April
Evidently the busiest month for M&A activity in 2022, April saw three new mergers added to the list.
Cbus Super completed a merger with Media Super, managed by the United Super Trustee. The successor fund transfer created a combined fund of $75 billion.
Not long after, LUCRF Super joined forces with AustralianSuper, the country’s largest super fund. The deal resulted in a combined retirement savings of over $10 billion.
Hospitality-focused super fund Hostplus preserved its active reputation in the world of M&A, following its merger with Statewide Super. The merger cemented Hostplus’ position in the top five superannuation funds by membership and saw an FUM of $81 billion.
May
The month of May witnessed the merger between BT Super and Mercer Super. The acquisition aimed to bring about “greater scale, fee reductions and improved service for members”.
June
Two profit-to-member funds, Active Super and Vision Super, signed a memorandum of understanding to consider a potential merger in the future. The fund would manage $26 billion in FUM if it were to proceed.
November
CareSuper and Spirit Super would also explore a possible merger after the two entered a memorandum of understanding. Both funds shared a vision to “create a mid-sized fund with a distinct point of difference”.
After failing the Your Future, Your Super performance test and experiencing pressure to merge with a larger fund, Christian Super announced its merger with Australian Ethical Investment.
December
One of the final M&A deals of 2022 was HESTA’s acquisition of Mercy Super, which increased its FUM to nearly $70 billion.
Hostplus announced its second merger of the year in December, this time merging with Maritime Super. The recent news reflected the funds’ commitment to “creating a broad-based, national fund of greater size and scale”.
