Brighter Super’s $500m Queensland pre-Olympic cash splash

Brighter Super will invest $500m in new Queensland assets including key infrastructure in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

Brighter Super boss Kate Farrar will boost investment in Queensland.

Brisbane-based Brighter Super will invest $500m in new Queensland assets including key infrastructure in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics.

Brighter Super chief executive Kate Farrar said the investment adds to the $1bn the fund already holds in the state and underpins job creation and economic growth.

The commitment is set to be announced at the Queensland Futures Institute finance summit in Brisbane on Friday, with investments in energy and renewables infrastructure, housing, property and agriculture being assessed.

“We will work with our investment managers to target the best possible real assets that enhance our members’ communities and create real jobs while delivering strong investment returns,’’ Ms Farrar said.

She said the strategy will position the fund to invest in key infrastructure projects for Queensland as it gears up for the Olympics. The announcement comes the same week that Brisbane 2032 chief executive Cindy Hook has urged concerned Queenslanders to “speak up” and demand an Olympic Games stadium a growing city needs.

Brighter Super is the fourth largest non-government financial institution in the state, with approximately $32bn in funds under management.

A Queensland Olympic Authority and Queensland government video still promoting the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Its existing $1bn in assets in Queensland include investments in the Sunshine Coast Airport and the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange. It also has a stake in the Cooper’s Gap Wind Farm in the Western Downs and South Burnett.

In Brisbane, through its investment in the Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, it is backing the giant $2.5bn Waterfront Brisbane project in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD.

Ms Farrar said about 85 cent of the fund’s total assets are owned by Queenslanders, with Brighter Super committed to increasing its stake in the state.

The fund would partner and collaborate with investment partners and governments to maximise the impact of the investments, she said.

Ms Farrar said that more than 70 per cent of Brighter Super’s 230,000 members live in Queensland, which has a population growth above the national average and significant economic opportunities in the lead-up to the Brisbane Olympics.

Ms Farrar said that while Brighter Super planned to grow its investment in the state, its portfolio “would remain dynamic to provide the strongest returns to members”.

The fund has embarked on a fund manager selection process to deliver its new Queensland investment strategy.

“We are focused on growing Queensland as we deliver great returns year-on-year to our members,’’ Ms Farrar said.

“The investments will be rigorously assessed and must be in the best financial interests of members, deliver strong returns, and through partnerships with investment managers and government, have a positive impact on the Queensland economy.”

Brisbane-based Brighter Super will invest $500m in new Queensland assets in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics.

The launch of the strategy comes as Brighter Super beds in the mergers between LGIAsuper and Energy Super in 2021 and the acquisition of Suncorp Super completed last year.

Research by KPMG named Brighter Super last year as the second-fastest growing fund in the nation in terms of funds under management and membership growth, behind the Queensland-based fund Australian Retirement Trust.

Australian Retirement Trust was created with the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper to create a behemoth with $230bn in funds under management and over two million members.

Industry experts claim the super sector will be dominated by between six and a dozen mega-funds in the future that will enlist the majority of new entrants to the workforce.