Merger partner for AvSuper

Following our previous announcements regarding a potential merger, we are pleased to confirm that AvSuper and Australian Retirement Trust (ART) have agreed to enter into a Heads of Agreement (HOA). The HOA confirms the intention of both parties to proceed with the merge in good faith. It’s a critical and positive step forward in serving our members best financial interests and comes after an extensive due diligence process.

While the merger is expected to be completed on 30 April 2024, there’s still a lot of work to be done before the merger takes place. Our working groups are continuing to plan and commence activity for this transition behind the scenes, including organising the transfer of the Defined Benefits accounts to ART.

We remain committed to being transparent throughout this process and will keep you updated of progress.

Introducing Australian Retirement Trust (ART)
As the second largest superfund in Australia, ART was created in Feb 2022 from the merger of two Queensland-based funds, QSuper and Sunsuper. At present, their member base is 2.2 million and they manage over $240 billion in members’ funds. Like AvSuper, ART offers defined benefit, accumulation and income stream accounts, and a solid performance history. ART also offers insurance and financial advice to their members and has won a number of customer service awards.

Want to know more?
Register for our next webinar on 24 August to learn more.

If you have any urgent questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

The fundamentals haven’t changed.

As previously stated, the regulator has been encouraging smaller super funds like AvSuper to merge, with particular focus on those under $10 billion.
In an environment where the legislative change continues apace and members’ expectations continue to rise, it is apparent that AvSuper will not be able to provide the benefits of scale that larger funds can deliver over the long term.

As a result, we believe that the best course of action for members is to pursue a merger.

There’s still a lot of work to be done before the merger takes place. Our working groups are continuing to plan and commence activity for this transition behind the scenes.

The merger is expected to be completed on 30 April 2024.

We invited a number of funds to participate in the Expression of Interest process. ART was one of these funds. As with CSC, we were impressed at the time by ART’s capabilities, however chose CSC due to our shared heritage and shared service providers.

When it became clear that a merger with CSC was not going to proceed under the current legislative timetable, we reviewed our shortlist and re-opened dialogue with a limited number of funds.

Through this process, we were impressed by ART’s expertise across the board, as well as their competitive pricing and insurance offer.
We are confident that this merger will be favourable to our members in the short and long-term.

ART has considerable DB capabilities. The AvSuper DB Scheme will be maintained by ART with the same rules that it has now.

Non-DB accounts will be moved into the comparable ART account.

All this of course assumes that the merger proceeds.

In the second half of 2021, the Trustee completed a market scan to consider potential merger partners. A request for ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI), outlining key criteria to be considered was sent to a number of funds, most of which responded with a proposal.

The Trustee narrowed participating funds down to a short list for further consideration, and as a result of those deliberations, chose CSC in May 2022.

When it has become clear that a merger with CSC was not going to happen in a timely manner, we reviewed our shortlist and re-opened dialogue with a limited number of funds, settling on ART.

No. Maintaining a separate brand is expensive, and keeping the AvSuper logo and colours won’t deliver members a better retirement.

Having said that, it will be the end of an era and the AvSuper team will be very sad to see it go. We are very proud of our 30+year history and what we have been able to achieve for our members over that time.

We can’t give you specific advice regarding your personal circumstances. If you are concerned, please speak to a financial adviser.

Everyone at AvSuper is working harder than ever to ensure our member’s best financial interests are upheld.
This means continuing to deliver improvements for our members where we can. For instance, the recent fee reductions, moving to a new insurer and digital enhancements.

No. The merger will only take place if it is determined to be in the best financial interest of both AvSuper and ART members.