Super fund merger prompts investment changes

Spirit Super's investment options will be renamed and changed to align with those currently offered by CareSuper ahead of their merger in November.

Spirit Super's default balanced investment option will shift to a more defensive stance, adjusting its growth/defensive allocation from 74%/26% to 70%/30%. The industry fund's growth option will also see a change, moving from 90%/10% to 83%/17%, while its sustainable option will adjust from 75%/25% to 70%/30%.

Spirit Super said that the merger will also bring changes to responsible investing and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations, including updates to exclusion policies.

The fund's current exclusion policy will no longer apply. Instead, the approach to determining exclusions, the aggregate investment portfolio emissions baseline, interim targets, and the emissions reduction roadmap will be recalibrated to ensure it's "fit-for-purpose" for the merged fund's portfolio.

Spirit Super members will continue to have access to general and personal advice on some matters relating to their superannuation account at no extra cost, as these services are covered by the administration fees paid by members.

General advice, currently provided by Quadrant First - a trustee-owned service - will continue under a new name; from November 1, it will be rebranded as 'CareSuper Advice.'

Regarding fees and costs, administration fees will remain at $67.60 per year, with an additional 0.10% of the account balance charged annually. The cap on this percentage fee will increase from $450 to $750 per year.

CareSuper and Spirit Super began finalising their merger a few months ago.

The merged fund will retain the CareSuper name, feature a new executive lineup, and manage around 572,000 members with $52 billion in funds under management.

It will be led by current Spirit Super chief executive Jason Murray and chaired by current CareSuper chair Linda Scott. CareSuper's Suzanne Branton will continue as chief investment officer, Jean-Luc Ambrosi as chief experience officer, and Sam Horskins as chief financial officer.

From Spirit Super, Ningning Lyons will remain chief strategy officer, Kathleen Crawford will continue as chief operating officer, and Robyn Judd will stay on as chief people officer.