This Month
Big super to keep pushing companies on climate
New climate disclosure laws mean even retail super funds will engage with companies on climate this year. Poor workplace safety and governance is also a concern.
- Hannah Wootton
Super admits its size is a risk but says ‘what is the alternative?’
The managers of Australia’s $4.1 trillion retirement savings pool say they are best placed to invest in banks and private lending despite warnings from the RBA and IMF.
- Hannah Wootton
Where big super investors are hunting for returns in 2025
The investment bosses of the $4.1 trillion sector say US stocks will keep driving returns, but standout sharemarket performances will likely temper.
- Hannah Wootton
December 2024
Goodbye, APA! UniSuper sells leftover $340m stake in pipelines giant
It’s been a block bonanza for fund managers and investment banks this week, as founders and institutional investors seek to cash out before Christmas.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
How big super is spending your money on sponsorship and marketing
Jumps in advertising spends at industry giants such as Aware Super and UniSuper came despite a crackdown by the watchdog questioning whether these costs are in members’ best interests.
- Hannah Wootton
November 2024
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
AustralianSuper pays members back $4.2m over claims handling delays
The industry super giant is voluntarily compensating the loved ones of deceased members after an overhaul of its claims handling processes imposed tough new timelines.
- Hannah Wootton
Australia’s most complained about super funds revealed
Embattled construction industry fund Cbus topped the list of major funds, new data shows, but complaints across the sector jumped last financial year.
- Hannah Wootton
October 2024
Big super’s executive gender pay gap revealed
Analysis by The Australian Financial Review also shows who the highest-paid superannuation bosses were last year.
- Hannah Wootton
Revealed: Which super fund directors earn the most
Payments to directors at one fund outstripped those of comparable size by more than half a million dollars, despite delivering worse returns than most of their rivals, analysis by AFR Weekend shows.
- Hannah Wootton
UniSuper withdraws Tanarra Credit Partners’ mandate; dealmaker resigns
The industry fund has yanked a multimillion-dollar private debt mandate as it seeks to consolidate its private credit strategy towards the bigger end of town.
- Updated
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Mystery investor revealed in Macquarie, Aware’s $6b tilt for TPG fibre
Should the deal proceed as expected, UniSuper stands to emerge as an indirect minority owner of Vocus, taken private by MAM and Aware for $3.5 billion in 2021.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
September 2024
UniSuper faces uprising from scientists over its support of gas
More than 1000 members of the $140 billion industry super fund have signed a letter to its board demanding it leverage its influence over APA Group or risk greenwashing.
- Hannah Wootton
August 2024
Sacked fundie sues UniSuper and CIO for alleged bullying
The case comes as super funds put ASX companies on notice that they need to have decent work conditions or face strike votes.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
Bidder drought hits UniSuper selldown of Victorian desalination plant
Sources say core-plus funds had walked away after deciding the valuation needed to be significantly lower than UniSuper was prepared to accept.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
July 2024
No rate cuts and maybe a rise as inflation sticks, super funds warn
The investment chiefs of the country’s biggest funds also have a bleak outlook for Aussie shares over the next year, after global equities drove double-digit returns in FY23.
- Hannah Wootton
- Exclusive
- Nuclear energy
Too uncertain, too slow: funds rule out financing Dutton nuclear plan
The disinterest from superannuation funds comes despite appetite for other energy transition assets and a shortage of domestic investment opportunities.
- Hannah Wootton
Time to buy into tech stocks has passed, says UniSuper
Soaring technology stocks helped increase the retirement savings of the fund’s customers last financial year, but it’s hitting the pause button on further investment.
- Hannah Wootton
May 2024
Cabal of industry super funds, led by investors, weighed ASX takeover
The ASX is an essential piece of infrastructure, and has a quasi-monopoly position, a description that would fit Sydney Airport, for instance, which went private in a $23.6 billion takeover.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
April 2024
Big super splits on performance test reforms
Labor announced it was reviewing the test after several funds said the current rules stopped them investing in the “nation building” initiatives the government wanted them to bankroll.
- Hannah Wootton
February 2024
Super fees are not coming down like they were supposed to
The running costs of Australia’s biggest industry super funds have not gone down despite their promises that greater scale would drive down expenses.
- Hannah Wootton