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Media Super to leverage MySuper for acquisitions

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By Owen Holdaway
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3 minute read

Media Super has identified several smaller super funds as potential acquisition targets over the coming months as they are likely to have higher costs and experience difficulties in complying in the new legislative environment.

Media Super was one of the first funds to receive MySuper authorisation.

“We thought it was important that we work hard to get our authorisation early so that we could show to those funds that were struggling we were ready,” Media Super’s deputy chief executive, Michael Rooney told InvestorDaily.

Media Super has already had some meetings in-house and spoke with some external consultants about how the Stronger Super reforms will affect various other funds. 

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“There are a lot of ongoing costs going forward to meet the compliance and regulatory requirements,” Mr Rooney said.

“As a result, we believe some of the in-house funds will make a decision as they get further into it that that is not their business, that the solution is not where they want to be – and that is when we will be able to talk to them.”

Media Super has also identified funds likely to have to increase their fees to members because of the higher regulatory costs and because MySuper requires a standardised fee structure. 

“A number of these groups will see, in the next six to nine months, advice that fees for their active membership, their current employees, are going to increase quite substantially – A: to pay for the fact that MySuper is more expensive, and B:  to pay for the fact that it is no longer cross-subsided by other members,” Mr Rooney said.

“That’s when we see some of the larger of those funds will want to talk about fee structure, to have the same cost under MySuper as it was pre-MySuper,” he added.

Media Super would not name any specific funds, but admitted it had a group that it was gearing up to approach in coming months.   

“We have done a lot of work on identifying those funds and we are not trying to rush it. If you rush these things you tend to get them wrong; we want to do it properly,” he said.  

Media Super plans to make a statement about its acquisition and merger plans soon. 

“It is very early days, but we will be talking about it shortly,” Mr Rooney told InvestorDaily.