Uplifting our Binding Death Benefit form experience
In December 2023, we released an uplift that allows members to pre-fill and print their Binding Death Benefit Nomination form through Member Online.
Once printed, the form will automatically pre-fill with the personal information recorded in Member Online.
For security purposes, members will still need to add their date of birth by hand and it is a legal requirement for the form to be signed and witnessed.
The uplift is just one of the ways we’re improving our tools and services to make it easier for members to manage, grow and protect their super.
ART welcomed the Federal Government's financial advice reforms
In December 2023, we welcomed the Federal Government’s proposal to overhaul how Australians access financial advice.
Together with AustralianSuper, ART advocated on a sensible middle path that expands access to advice and maintains important consumer protections. This package as drafted should deliver on that for superannuation members and financial consumers more generally.
The Federal Government has announced their proposal of a new model which will allow superannuation funds to expand their offering of financial advice as millions of Australians start moving into the retirement phase of their life.
Australia Retirement Trust's Executive General Manager of Advice, Guidance and Education Anne Fuchs welcomed the government's announcement.
"This is a transformative announcement for the industry. As one of Australia’s largest funds we’ve been advocating on behalf of our 2.3 million members to get improved access to professional financial advice and this timeline for draft legislation is an important milestone," Ms Fuchs said.
"With millions of Australians transitioning to retirement over the next decade and economic challenges predicted to continue, access to financial advice will play a key role in the financial wellbeing of Australians.
"We believe the broad range of proposals will support super funds to deliver more affordable and accessible advice for all Australians.
"We’re here as a retirement partner, to help Australians plan and retire well with confidence. We believe that delivering that involves a lifetime of education, guidance, advice and intelligent product solutions.”
The new model will:
- Clarify the topics that superannuation funds can charge for advice on and the circumstances they can consider.
- Allow super funds to provide helpful 'nudges' to members to drive greater engagement with superannuation at key life stages.
Consultation is now underway with legislation expected to be drafted early this year.
We delivered our largest corporate transition with Commonwealth Bank Group Super
In November 2023, ART successfully merged with the $12.3b Commonwealth Bank Group Super plan.
We welcomed 63,700 new members to the Fund as part of our largest corporate transition to date.
ART’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dave Woodall, said that the latest corporate merger signals the strength of ART’s offering for corporate clients and demonstrates ART’s specialist skill in managing complex transitions.
“This is our second major corporate transition so far this financial year, following on from the Woolworths SFT in August and we have a few more currently in progress, including AvSuper and Alcoa,” Mr Woodall said.
“At Australian Retirement Trust, our vision is to be Australia’s most chosen and trusted retirement partner, and our recent mergers signal the confidence from corporate Australia in what we offer.
“We have a very experienced inhouse transition team with specialist skills and experience in managing complex defined benefit plans as one of the largest defined benefit providers in the Australian superannuation industry.
“Our new members will benefit from ARTs global investment capability, award winning financial advice services and dedicated member support, including digital tools and education seminars.
“We’re very proud that major Australian employers trust us to manage the retirement outcomes of their employees today and into the future.”
ART appoints Head of Investment Resilience and Planning
In November 2023, announced the appointment of Jody Fitzgerald as Head of Investment Resilience and Planning.
The recently created role is accountable for ensuring investment portfolios and investment capability can consistently and effectively navigate and adapt to diverse investment landscapes resulting in optimal returns across market cycles.
ART’s Chief Investment Officer, Ian Patrick said the appointment was an integral step to set the team up for continued success in guarding and growing the retirement savings of our members.
"Australian Retirement Trust invests more than $260 billion on behalf of our more than 2.3 million members, which is a responsibility we take very seriously," Mr Patrick said.
"Jody brings to Australian Retirement Trust a wealth of capability and experience in investment management and business leadership roles, and we look forward to her contribution to deliver on our vision to be Australia’s most chosen and trusted retirement partner."
Jody joins ART from Morningstar Investment Management, where she was Head of Institutional Portfolio Management and Solutions and will commence at ART in late January 2024.
ART receives Morningstar Medallist RatingTM of ‘Silver’*
In September 2023, we received an upgraded Morningstar Medalist RatingTM for four of our Super Savings diversified investment options (Growth, Balanced, Retirement, and Conservative) from ‘Bronze’ to ‘Silver’.
The Morningstar Medalist Rating is a five-tier scale running from Gold to Negative. For actively-managed funds, Morningstar assigns Gold, Silver, and Bronze ratings to vehicles expected to add value, or “positive alpha,” over the long term when compared with a relevant Morningstar Category index after accounting for fees and risk.
We won the Finder Customer Satisfaction Award 2023*
In November 2023, ART was named as the winner of Finder’s Customer Satisfaction Awards for 2023 in the super funds category.
The Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards is an annual awards program that seeks to find the brands, products and companies that Australian consumers are most happy and satisfied with.
ART’s Chief Member Officer, Lachlan East said the award recognised the Fund's continued focus on delivering the best possible retirement outcomes to its members.
“Australian Retirement Trust aims to support our more than 2.3 million members across Australia to retire well with confidence and this award is a testament to the hard work of the entire team at ART to deliver on this ambition,” Mr East said.
*Ratings and awards are only one factor to be taken into account when deciding to invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.