The nation’s largest superannuation fund will be called Australian Retirement Trust (ART) according to a media release from Sunsuper, which will merge with QSuper to create the $230 billion pension behemoth from the end of February next year.
All 1.4 million Sunsuper members will automatically become members of the ART’s public offering, together will all new members that are not connected with the Queensland government. The QSuper brand will continue under the ART’s umbrella and service Queensland government employees.
The ART will be headquartered in Queensland with offices around Australia.
With the announcement came a promise from the Trust’s chief executive, Bernard Reilly, that members will receive a “post-merger fee reduction” that will apply on July 1, 2022.
“We’ll leverage our size and scale to be a force for good to make our members’ world better, seeking out investments to guard and grow their savings and retirement income,” Reilly said.
The two entities announced plans to merge back in 2019. QSuper has 620,000 members with over $133 billion in funds under management, while Sunsuper manages over $96 billion for its 1.4 billion members.
Once Board, regulatory and legislative approvals have been ticked off, the new merged entity will take the mantle of biggest fund in the country from Australian Super, which has around $200 billion worth of funds under management.