The new board directors, Professor Alec Cameron, Professor Hazel Bateman and Rebecca McGrath, bring with them a wealth of experience across several industries including academia, finance and research.

Professor Alec Cameron brings over 22 years of leadership experience to the UniSuper Board. He is currently ViceChancellor and President of RMIT University and has held previous senior leadership roles at universities in Australia and the United Kingdom. Alec is a Rhodes Scholar and holds a PhD in Robotics from Oxford University.

Professor Hazel Bateman, a Professor in the School of Risk & Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney, has significant expertise in superannuation, pensions, behavioural retirement and lifecycle finance. Throughout her acclaimed career, Professor Bateman has consulted to leading global financial institutions including the World Bank and the OCED bodies in China and South Korea. She also held the role of Chief Investigator and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR).

Rebecca McGrath has enjoyed an extensive international career in the energy and resource sectors, including 24 years as an executive with BP in Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe. She has also served on the board of numerous public companies including CSR Ltd, Goodman Group and Incitec Pivot Ltd, and was Chairman of Oz Minerals Ltd.

The new board directors bring with them a unique skill set, which includes extensive experience in strategic leadership and corporate governance.

“We are thrilled to welcome such accomplished leaders to our Board,” said UniSuper Board Chair, Gregory Mark Armour.

“Their diverse backgrounds and experiences across a range of industries, will help us continue to shape UniSuper as a high performing fund which delivers for its members. Their extensive leadership experience will be crucial in guiding strategic initiatives across the fund.”

The new appointments follow the departures of Professor Lelia Green, Professor Peter Dawkins and Nicolette Rubinsztein, who all reached their term limits after nine years of exemplary service.

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Peter Chun

UniSuper is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Ignition Advice, the world’s leading digital advice technology provider.

This is the first partnership of its kind in Australia and will provide members with accessible, affordable personal advice, at scale, covering superannuation, insurance, investments, and retirement options.

UniSuper is extending its award-winning financial advice and education proposition to service those members who wouldn’t ordinarily seek advice – the “missing middle” – with a digital advice service.

From June this year, UniSuper will initially provide its members with access to personal advice on their investment options via the MemberOnline Portal or the UniSuper mobile app. Personal advice on contributions, insurance, and pension drawdowns, will be progressively rolled out.

UniSuper’s digital advice platform will be powered by its award-winning education, guidance and advice team and support members with simple and user-friendly help, guidance and advice at a time that works for them.

Members will be guided through a journey and series of prompts to understand their needs and based on responses, receive a personalised recommendation. Members can then, in numerous scenarios, instruct the platform to implement their advice directly.

If the need arises, members will have the opportunity to engage with a UniSuper Advice colleague at any stage throughout their journey on the platform. Some, but not all, additional services may be provided at no additional cost.

UniSuper knows that small decisions made early can make a meaningful difference in retirement and this is an opportunity to support all members with access to quality personal advice.

Peter Chun, Chief Executive Officer, UniSuper, said: “Our goal is to provide great retirement outcomes for our members, we know that advice provides financial security for those preparing for and in retirement.

We want to ensure that each member has access to advice that’s tailored to their needs and helps meet their goals for a better retirement.” “While some members have complex financial situations requiring a detailed plan, many have simpler needs but still want expert guidance to build their financial confidence and support their retirement plans. Through digital advice, we can offer this advice in a fast and scalable way, increasing accessibility for all members.”

Terry Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer, Ignition Advice said: “We are thrilled to partner with UniSuper, one of Australia’s largest and most respected superannuation funds, to bring this innovative digital advice solution to its members. UniSuper’s demonstrated ambition and vision, underpinned by their award-winning service cements their place as global thought leaders in the space. With our mission being to ‘close the advice gap’, this partnership is a significant step towards achieving that goal.”

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John Pearce

UniSuper, the $135 billion superannuation fund open to all Australians, today announced it has committed up to USD400m to Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO), investing in the global energy transition and climate opportunities.

MGECO is an open-ended fund that invests in large scale, mature sustainable technologies to support the transition to net zero and help meet sustainable energy needs in Australia and overseas. It aims to provide diversified exposure to the global renewable sector with a growing pipeline of opportunities across geographies, technologies, power markets, renewable resources and asset lifecycle stages.

MGECO targets a portfolio that aims to be resilient across the economic cycle with an initial focus on assets in hard to access sectors and geographies that provide opportunity for growth. The portfolio is expected to include six seed investments across Australia, Asia, US and Europe. These businesses will provide initial access to approximately 100 underlying projects across onshore and offshore wind, solar, storage and carbon related projects.

The investments include Aula Energy, an onshore renewable energy business that plans to develop, build and operate utility-scale wind, solar and integrated battery projects across the Australian and New Zealand markets to create a diversified portfolio of actively managed green energy generation assets for the future. Aula has secured an initial ~4 gigawatts of advanced development rights comprising wind and solar developments from Western Australia to South Australia and the eastern states and is expected to expand and grow over time.

UniSuper’s Chief Investment Officer, John Pearce said UniSuper is a significant investor of the Fund and will be investing alongside Macquarie’s balance sheet.

“This is an investment of scale and quality with a pipeline of opportunities helping to accelerate the transition to net zero. It will enable UniSuper to invest across technologies and geographies in projects that we believe will generate attractive long term returns for our members.

The energy transition will require mature sustainable technologies to meet net zero targets in Australia and around the world. Macquarie is one of the most experienced managers in this space with deep expertise, strong financial backing and a proven track record, their experienced on the ground investment and operational teams and global networks are second to none. The investment supports UniSuper’s strategy to develop smart partnerships with high quality, aligned managers to complement our in-house investment capability.”

MGECO’s structure and long-term investment horizon aligns both with the nature of the investments and with UniSuper’s members many of whom will be investing their retirement savings for many years to come.

UniSuper continues to work towards its objective to achieve net zero in its investment portfolio by 2050 and to contribute to Australia’s goal to achieve a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030.

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John Pearce

UniSuper is pleased to provide an update on returns for the 22/23 financial year. Members will be reassured that all UniSuper investment options delivered positive returns for the 2022/23 financial year, a year that had no shortage of bad news with the ongoing war in Ukraine, high inflation, and the fastest rate hike cycle in decades.

In FY22/23, all our investment options recorded positive returns, with our (default) Balanced option recording 10.3% (or 11.8% for zero-tax pension accounts) – UniSuper is very proud to deliver for our members.

The highest performing investment options were UniSuper’s Global Companies in Asia at 21.0%, and International Shares at 16.4%.

Global Companies in Asia seeks companies that are well placed to benefit from the growing wealth of Asian consumers. Over 20% of the portfolio is invested in the tech giants that are being swept up in “AI euphoria”. Similarly, over 16% of the International Shares option is exposed to tech companies deemed to be at the forefront of AI.

Of our pre-mixed investment options, the top performers were the High Growth (14.0%) followed by Sustainable High Growth (13.8%). These strong returns are key to delivering the retirement outcomes our members expect, deserve and rely upon.

For those members within our Defined Benefit Division, our defined benefit fund remains in a strong surplus and our members’ accrued benefits are well funded.

As active, genuine long-term investors, we believe UniSuper’s portfolios are well positioned to deliver industry leading value to our members as they build and enjoy remarkable retirements.

Quotes attributable to John Pearce, UniSuper’s Chief Investment Officer “While it was good to see the Balanced option hit double digit returns for the financial year, our focus is always on the longer term. In that regard we are confident that current portfolio settings, with a quality bias and ample liquidity, places us in good stead to deliver on long term objectives.”

17 January 2023

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Repeater tower.

UniSuper, the award winning $115 billion superannuation fund open to all Australians, has secured a 5% indirect stake in leading mobile towers business Vantage Towers in an AUD $1 billion deal.

Vantage Towers is one of the leading mobile towers businesses in Europe with a portfolio of over 83,000 sites across 10 markets including Germany, Italy, Spain and UK. Vantage Towers’ anchor tenant and major shareholder is Vodafone, Europe’s largest mobile network operator.

Vodafone recently entered into an agreement with a GIP and KKR led consortium to invest in Vantage Towers. GIP and KKR are highly experienced infrastructure managers with strong track records in managing digital infrastructure. UniSuper has acquired its interest in Vantage Towers by joining the consortium through its relationship with KKR. UniSuper, together with KKR, other consortium partners and Vodafone, is excited to support, optimise and grow the business into the future.

This acquisition is UniSuper’s first direct unlisted infrastructure investment in Europe, completed after a period of extensive due diligence.

Sandra Lee, UniSuper’s Head of Private Markets, was delighted to announce the investment, which will complement UniSuper’s large infrastructure portfolio including Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Airports, Transurban Chesapeake, and a growing allocation to forestry assets.

“This is a high-quality defensive infrastructure investment with strong fundamentals and growth prospects. It adds to UniSuper’s approximately $15 billion private markets portfolio and is positioned to deliver excellent results for our members over the long term. The expected significant growth in data demand underpins our interest in the digital infrastructure sector. At a time of economic uncertainty, we remain cautiously opportunistic, and this is a great example of that approach.

We look forward to a strong relationship with KKR going forward as well as working alongside the Vantage Towers management team and our co-investors.

As genuine active long-term investors, we continue to look for sizable opportunities that grow our members’ retirement savings.”

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Sukhi Lekhi

UniSuper, the $115bn fund open to all Australians, has made key new appointments to further strengthen its Private Markets team.

Sukhi Lekhi, appointed Senior Investment Analyst, and Lachlan McLeish, appointed Investment Analyst, will report to Sandra Lee, UniSuper’s Head of Private Markets.

Sukhi joins UniSuper from Deloitte where she held the position of Associate Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Valuations practice. Her career at Deloitte has spanned international tax work, mergers and acquisitions, and advising a range of organisations in industries from renewable energy to infrastructure and retail operations.

Lachlan joins UniSuper from PwC where most recently he was a Senior Consultant in Corporate Valuation advisory undertaking valuations of large infrastructure assets in Australia and New Zealand. His previous experience includes EY and PPB.

UniSuper’s Private Markets team manage a $11 billion portfolio of infrastructure and private equity investments, including UniSuper’s recent investment in PRP Diagnostic Imaging and partnership with Uniseed. These areas have been an increased investment focus for UniSuper over the past year.

Sandra Lee was pleased to welcome additional talent to the team: “UniSuper is in the market for quality investment opportunities that deliver long term value for our members.

Sukhi and Lachlan are both highly skilled investment professionals with deep experience in valuations, mergers and acquisitions. I have every confidence their expertise will enhance our capability and deliver real outcomes for our members.” Sukhi joined UniSuper in December, and Lachlan joined in January.

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Peter Chun

UniSuper, the over $105 billion fund, and Australian Catholic Superannuation (ACS), the over $10 billion fund, have completed the execution of the Successor Fund Transfer (SFT) with more than 80,000 former ACS members now part of the award winning UniSuper.

This SFT was realised after considerable due diligence, planning and integration. Due to the efforts of both funds, we have been able to achieve a successful transition in all members’ best financial interests.

All UniSuper members, current and new, can expect an industry-leading offering with access to award-winning products and financial advice team. UniSuper is committed to ensuring continuity of services and assistance to all participating employers and key stakeholders and will continue actively engaging to achieve this outcome.

UniSuper CEO Peter Chun said: “We’re really pleased to welcome members formerly from ACS to UniSuper. With all members set to benefit from increased scale, we are looking forward to this new chapter in UniSuper’s history. Our focus will continue to be on achieving amazing retirement outcomes for our members, new and old, and ensuring a smooth transition for those joining us from ACS”.

“Scale offers opportunities for the fund, keeping downward pressure on fees, ensuring that UniSuper can continue to leverage our position as an active investor, and unlocking investment opportunities that simply aren’t available to smaller funds. All of these factors position UniSuper to continue serving our members’ best financial interests.”

ACS CEO Greg Cantor said: “Our mission has always been to enable the best retirement outcomes possible for our members. After considerable due diligence, I am confident this merger delivers on that goal for our members. We have been very pleased with the cultural alignment of our fund with that of UniSuper and their commitment to work closely with our members and employers in Catholic agencies and Catholic schools.”

Preparation had been underway for a successful transition for many months. Both funds worked closely together to make the merger as seamless as possible, while maintaining the high level of care provided to members of both funds, delivering outcomes members expect and deserve.

As a result of the merger UniSuper will now have around $115 billion funds under management on behalf of 620,000 members. Note to editors UniSuper is one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds and is run solely for the benefit of its members. For more than 40 years, UniSuper has been managing super for people employed in the higher education and research sector and is now open to all Australians. UniSuper currently invests over $115 billion on behalf of over 620,000 members.

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Mr Warne, who trained as an actuary, has had a distinguished career in financial services spanning over 40 years. He recently retired as Chair of Macquarie Group after 6 years in the role and 15 years as a Director. Over the course of his career he has served on the board of a number of ASX listed and private companies, including ASX Limited and T Corp; prior to which he had a long and highly successful executive career at Bankers Trust Australia Limited, where he headed the Global Financial Markets Group.

Mr Warne’s appointment follows the announcement last month that Mark Armour will take over the UniSuper Chair role when current Chair, Ian Martin, retires at the end of the year. Mr Armour is the current Chair of the Investment Committee.

Commenting on his appointment, Peter Warne said: “I have always been impressed by UniSuper’s market leading investment capabilities and value proposition it offers its members, and I am looking forward to contributing to the Fund as an independent board member and Investment Committee Chair”.

UniSuper Chair, Ian Martin, said: “Peter is highly respected both in Australia and globally for his stellar business career, commercial acumen and values, and his personal touch. The UniSuper Board is both delighted and honoured to welcome him as a Director and Chair of the Investment Committee”.

UniSuper CEO, Peter Chun, added: “Mr Warne’s appointment to our Board and as Chair of our Investment Committee brings incredible experience, wisdom and insight which is sure to benefit the fund and our members. Members should feel assured that the appointment of a professional of this calibre to the Board is a real vote of confidence for the future of the fund.”

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John Pearce

UniSuper, the $106 billion fund now open to all Australians, has today announced it has secured an investment relationship with Australia’s longest-established early-stage commercialisation fund manager – Uniseed.

Uniseed, like UniSuper, focuses on innovative programs that will change the world for the better. Established in 2000 and now owned by the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney, New South Wales and the CSIRO, Uniseed provides seed funding for early-stage research and technology developed by its five partners. These innovative organisations provide around half of all patents created by research organisations in Australia.

UniSuper’s Chief Investment Officer John Pearce says that Uniseed was a natural fit and logical choice for the fund. “UniSuper has always championed Australia’s thinkers, creators and investigators. Uniseed is at the forefront of new start-ups and technologies,” Mr Pearce said. “This is an excellent opportunity for UniSuper to actively participate in the development and commercialisation of research and technology that will shape the future. We look forward to seeing this investment blossom and grow over time”.

Under the agreement, UniSuper has committed $75 million into Uniseed which will cover existing projects as well as exciting new developments across industries of the future, such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, quantum computing and green energy.

Uniseed’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Devine said that UniSuper’s investment will unlock more engagement with Australia’s growing innovation and start-up sector. “UniSuper is one of Australia’s largest and most respected and innovative super funds, and the capital at its disposal will go a long way to ensuring we can seize opportunities presented by the brilliant minds at Australia’s top research organisations,” Dr Devine said.

“This is a further step Uniseed is taking to facilitate commercialisation of Australian research. Today’s emergent start-ups are tomorrow’s tech and health giants, and with funding from UniSuper we are able to get in at the very early stages of these journeys.”

The investments will feed into UniSuper’s sustainable investment options.

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Peter Chun

UniSuper, the $110 billion fund now open to all Australians, has been awarded a 5-Star Rating for Outstanding Value in Canstar’s 2022 Superannuation Awards.

This award cements UniSuper’s position as one of Australia’s best-performing superannuation funds, demonstrating that the Fund is delivering on its mission of shaping a future worth retiring for their members according to Chief Executive Officer – Peter Chun.

“We’re incredibly proud to receive the accolade of 5-Stars in the prestigious Canstar Outstanding Value Superannuation Awards, as it validates the strength of our performance and low fees. Our brilliant people, our innovative approach to our investment strategy and our excellent service means we have the best value super in Australia,” Mr. Chun said.

“We’re pleased to be using the power of our scale to take advantage of investment opportunities that will ultimately help deliver strong long-term returns for our members and help create a future worth retiring for.”

Peter Chun added “I congratulate our entire UniSuper team. This 5-Star rating is a testament to the dedication of every one of our people. They each play a critical role in delivering outstanding value to our members.”

Canstar’s Joshua Sale, Ratings Manager said UniSuper’s commitment to improving members’ retirement outcomes stood out.

“Canstar’s Superannuation Awards recognise the funds that find the right balance between investment performance, fees and product features. UniSuper, in their first year as an open fund, has been recognised by Canstar as offering Outstanding Value to their fund members. UniSuper’s Balanced (MySuper) investment option has delivered 7-year returns well above market average while keeping fees among the lowest in market.”

This is the first year UniSuper has participated in the research and follows the 5-Star Rating the Fund received for its Flexi Pension in September 2021. More recently, UniSuper was named Money Magazine’s Best Super Fund 2022.

UniSuper opened to the public in July 2021, making it eligible for review as part of Canstar’s methodology, which stipulates that a product should not be restricted to members of a particular group or organisation. Previously UniSuper was only open to those in the higher education and research sector.

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