CEO update

By Kate Farrar, Chief Executive Officer, LGIAsuper

Published 24 November 2020

It was good to have so many members joining us at our recent Annual Members Meeting, both in-person at Brisbane City Hall and on our live webinar.

My team and I enjoyed being able to present the fund’s annual performance to members, and to discuss our future direction. We provided an update on the improvements we have made to member services, our progress in delivering cost savings, and the work we have done in response to new superannuation legislation.

This has been a year of major change for us at LGIAsuper, and for everyone across Australia and worldwide. It was good to share the latest updates and insights with our members.

If you were unable to attend the Annual Members Meeting, you can watch a video recording of all the presentations and the Q&A session.

Our Annual Report 2019/20 was shared with members at the meeting and is available on our website.

Reducing fees and improving services

I have some great news to share about reducing some of our fees.

From 1 November 2020, we have reduced our weekly administration fee from $1.50 per week to $1.00 per week, per account. This fee covers the costs of running your superannuation account throughout the year, such as processing transactions, telephone support, Member Online, general advice, preparing statements and sending communications.

Over the past year we have been able to reduce the cost of running the fund, whilst still providing the high level of service our members expect. I am therefore delighted that we can pass on our cost savings to members through reduced fees.

In addition to the reduced administration fee, we have also reduced the estimated investment fees for all our Ready-made investment options, including our default MySuper Lifecycle option. We are also reducing estimated investment fees for some of our Single Asset Class options.

Full details are available in our Important change notice, 1 November 2020 which was recently sent to all members.

This notice also included details about improvements we’ve recently made to our investments and insurance services:

• Changes to our investment program to keep a focus on the types of assets where we expect higher returns in a post-COVID-19 world, as well as those that attract lower fees and costs.
• Greater transparency and clarity in our investment program, giving you a better understanding of where your money is invested – you can learn more about this topic in our article on choosing an investment option.
• Enhancements to our insurance cover with changes to our life events conditions and eligibility – find out more in our article on your insurance and life changes.

Proposed merger

One of the most popular topics of discussion at the Annual Members Meeting was our proposed merger with Energy Super.

We are currently exploring the possible benefits of the merger to members. The combined funds’ increased size and scale could provide benefits such as better investment opportunities, cost efficiencies, and improvements to products and services. 

The merger could be an exciting opportunity for both funds and their members. We are still in the early stages of the due diligence process, and we will continue to keep members informed on decisions that are made over the coming weeks.

Adapting and performing

Another hot topic of discussion was of course COVID-19. LGIAsuper has adapted well to the slowing economy and volatile markets. Our size and agility enabled us to respond quickly to the changes. 

Our Investments Team has seized opportunities as markets recovered and is delivering competitive returns. Full details of our investment performance for last financial year are available in our Annual Report 2019/20.

We have made a great start to this new financial year. For the period of 1 July to 31 October 2020, industry analysts SuperRatings ranked LGIAsuper’s MySuper Lifecycle Under 75 as the number one performing option in its category*. This is our default option and is used by most of our Accumulation account members, so this was a fantastic achievement for the fund.

LGIAsuper also achieved top five category rankings for its Diversified Growth, Aggressive, Balanced and Stable options over this period.

We’re here to help

As always, our team of superannuation specialists and financial advisers are available to help you. 

If you would like to discuss ways your superannuation, insurance or investment option, please contact us on 1800 444 396.