On Monday, Australian Retirement Trust (ART) announced that it has now successfully merged with the $12.3 billion Commonwealth Bank Group Super (Group Super) plan.
ART, which currently has 2.3 million members, has welcomed 63,700 Group Super members in what the fund describes as its largest corporate transition to date.
According to ART chief commercial officer Dave Woodall, the merger signals the strength of ART’s offering for corporate clients and its skill in managing complex transitions.
“This is our second major corporate transition so far this financial year, following on from the Woolworths SFT in August and we have a few more currently in progress, including AvSuper and Alcoa,” he said.
As part of its announcement, ART explained that the successor fund transfer (SFT) with Group Super is set to be completed in two tranches.
The initial transition has already been completed, while the transfer of defined benefit lifetime pensions, totalling approximately 3,700 members and $2 billion, will occur in the second half of the current financial year.
Group Super originally entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to pursue a merger with ART in February. That same month, AvSuper and ART also signed an MOU before formally entering into a heads of agreement in August.
In March, ART entered into an MOU with Alcoa of Australia Retirement Plan (Alcoa Super) over a potential merger. Meanwhile, ART’s SFT with Woolworths Group and Endeavour Group in August saw the addition of 25,000 members and $4.3 billion.
“At Australian Retirement Trust, our vision is to be Australia’s most chosen and trusted retirement partner, and our recent mergers signal the confidence from corporate Australia in what we offer,” said Mr Woodall.
“We have a very experienced in-house transition team with specialist skills and experience in managing complex defined benefit plans as one of the largest defined benefit providers in the Australian superannuation industry.”
ART ranks as one of the country’s largest super funds. Following its recent mergers, the fund has more than 2.3 million members and $260 billion in funds under management.
“Our new members will benefit from ART’s global investment capability, award-winning financial advice services, and dedicated member support, including digital tools and education seminars,” Mr Woodall added.
“We’re very proud that major Australian employers trust us to manage the retirement outcomes of their employees today and into the future.”
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
