CEO Update, February 2024

By Kate Farrar, Chief Executive Officer, Brighter Super

6 February 2024

Brighter Super has transformed itself through two mergers over the last three years. This year, my team and I are focusing on ensuring our members continue to benefit from these mergers.

We will also be increasing our focus on members in or approaching retirement. This is an important life stage for many of our members and when they need the most help.

We are making good progress in selecting the best possible products and services from each foundation fund to support all members. As we’ve grown through the mergers, we’ve already started to lower our costs and deliver better services while maintaining our boutique, personalised service.

In this update, I am pleased to share some of the recent changes to our products and services that members can benefit from.

I would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our many members who are assisting with response and recovery efforts during the recent Queensland weather events, including our council partners, energy workers and community members. Many of our members, including our own staff, were impacted by these events and your significant efforts, generosity and resilience are remarkable, and much appreciated.

Finishing the year strongly

We finished the 2023 calendar year with strong returns across most options. Our Investments team has done well to steer us through this year’s market volatility, delivering returns that compare favourably with our industry peers. Share markets finished 2023 on a high, which will have benefited many of our members.

Our default MySuper option delivered 10.40% over the 12 months to 31 December 2023¹. This is a continuation of MySuper’s strong performance last financial year (2022/23) when it delivered 10.62%, the highest MySuper return for a Queensland industry fund for that period.

One of the benefits of the Energy Super merger in 2021 was improving our investment capabilities, which helped our strong performance in 2022/23. We are now looking at investment opportunities provided by last year’s SPSL merger with an additional $6.1 billion in funds under management.

The tables below show the investment returns over the last 12 months (to 31 December 2023) for our ready-made options¹.

Creating a single set of investment options

Over the coming months, we will continue the work we have been doing over the last 18 months to create a single set of investment options for all members.

We currently have two sets of investment options:

• One set for members with Brighter Super accounts, created in 2022 following the merger of LGIAsuper and Energy Super.
• Another set of options for members with Optimiser accounts, formerly at SPSL.

Our team will evaluate and compare similar options for performance, fee structure and management. We will select the best options for our new single set.

We aim to reduce duplication, simplify our product offering, save costs, and provide a comprehensive set of investment choices for all members.

We will keep all members informed of the changes throughout the year.

Reduction to administration fee cap

Effective 1 July 2023, we reduced the administration fee cap from $5,000 to $2,950 per financial year for all ready-made investment options for Accumulation and Pension accounts.We plan to continue to pass on significant savings to members by further reducing the cap to $900 at the end of the financial year in line with the current MySuper option.

As a not-for-profit industry fund, we only charge our members what it costs to run the fund. The fee cap reduction is part of Brighter Super’s ongoing work to lower our costs and pass on savings to members.

Full details are provided in the significant event notice being sent to all members with Optimiser accounts from 2 February 2024.

Reduction to insurance premiums

We have decreased insurance premiums for all Optimiser accounts, effective 1 February 2024.

This change has been automatically applied on members’ accounts. For the new premiums applicable to you, please refer to the Optimiser Insurance Guide or the Optimiser Corporate Plan Summary for your account at brightersuper.com.au/pds-and-guides.

Full details are provided in the significant event notice being sent to all members with Optimiser accounts from 2 February 2024.

Our new Retirement Health Check service

This month, we are launching a new service that can help our members in their mid-50s and over. It’s called a Retirement Health Check.

Members can have a 30-45 minute phone appointment with one of our financial advisers to see if they are on track to reach their retirement income goals². The adviser can also give a general overview of the different ways to keep growing super and, based on the information discussed, they will prepare a retirement projection report for the member. There is a small fee to cover the costs of this service.

This builds on the success of our Super Health Check service. Last financial year (2022/23), 6,681 members had a Super Health Check appointment, helping them to discover new ways to grow their super. We hope that the new Retirement Health Check will be just as popular, if not more.

Find out more: Retirement Health Check 

Account reports can be downloaded at any time

Members can now download reports about their account anytime during the year, with details such as balance, transactions, and investment earnings. This means they will no longer have to wait for their Annual Statement each year to view this information.

This new Member Reports service was launched last month (January 2024). The reports can also be generated by listed financial advisers who have been authorised by a member.

To try this new service, log in to your account in Member Online, and select Member Reports on the left-hand navigation. Further information will be sent to all members soon.

Industry awards for 2024

I am delighted to report that Brighter Super has been awarded Platinum ratings from SuperRatings for another year, which is its highest possible rating³.

• For the 16th year in a row, Platinum ratings in 2024 for our Accumulation account⁴ (MyChoice category) and our Pension account (Pension category).
• For the 11th year in a row, a Platinum rating in 2024 for our MySuper investment option (MySuper category).

These ratings reflect value for money and the potential to maximise retirement savings in a well-serviced, secure environment.

Looking back at our Annual Members’ Meeting

It was great to see so many members and guests attending our Annual Members’ Meeting last November, both at Brisbane City Hall and online. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to participate.

My team and I always appreciate this time with our members. Sharing ideas and listening to feedback helps us shape the products and services to meet our members’ needs.

John Smith, our Chair, and Mark Rider, our Chief Investment Officer, joined me on the stage for the presentations. We gave members an update on the fund’s performance for the financial year, our future direction and priorities for the coming year.

The meeting was a chance to highlight our fund’s recent achievements, including the member benefits from mergers with Energy Super and SPSL. Our partners Zurich, TAL and MATES in Energy had exhibition stands at the event, where members could come and meet them.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend the meeting, you can watch our video featuring all the presentations and our answers to members’ questions.

Full details of the fund’s performance are available in our Annual Report 2022/23.

Staying calm in volatile times

Brighter Super is changing, and so is the world around us. Global markets continue to be volatile, and the pressures of inflation and interest rate rises are felt everywhere.

During volatile times, I believe that it’s important to stay calm and focused on the long term. While past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, historically markets have recovered and grown over the long term.

You can see how the investments for your super are performing over time by using the interactive performance graph on our website.

See how your investments are performing

If you are feeling uncertain or considering a change to how your super is invested, talking to a financial adviser can often be helpful.

If you already have a financial adviser, they can help you make informed decisions about your super.

If you do not have a financial adviser, Brighter Super’s in-house team of financial advisers is here to help you². Types of financial advice include intra-fund advice, scaled advice for retirement planning, and comprehensive advice. To find out more, visit brightersuper.com.au/advice.

For the MySuper option, returns are reported on a basis of soft close valuations and are net of investment fees and costs and transaction costs, net of taxes, and net of the percentage-based administration fee (accrued in the unit price). For investment options for Optimiser accounts, returns are reported on a basis of soft close valuations and are net of investment fees and costs and transaction costs, and net of taxes. Returns are gross of all administration fees and costs. Investment returns are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Brighter Super Financial Advisers are Authorised Representatives of Industry Fund Services Limited (IFS) ABN 54 007 016 195, AFSL No 232514. ESI Financial Services is a wholly owned entity of LGIAsuper Trustee (ABN 94 085 088 484) as trustee for LGIAsuper (ABN 23 053 121 564) trading as Brighter Super. ESI Financial Services provides financial services to Brighter Super members and employers under a service agreement with Brighter Super. ESI Financial Services has engaged IFS to facilitate the provision of financial advice to Brighter Super members. ESI Financial Services has also engaged Link Advice Pty Limited ABN 36 105 811 836, AFSL No 258145 to provide Brighter Super members with access to limited personal advice over the phone in respect to Brighter Super products.
Ratings issued by SuperRatings Pty Ltd (AFSL 311880) are general advice only. Rating is not a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold any product and subject to change without notice. SuperRatings may receive a fee for the use of its ratings and awards. Visit com.au for ratings information.
‘Accumulation account’ refers to the Brighter Super Accumulation account, and not the Brighter Super Optimiser account.