The Queensland-based fund has now absorbed about 68,000 members from Zurich’s OneCare Super, following an initial tranche of transfers in 2024 from the same plan.
Its broader growth strategy has included the 2021 merger of LGIAsuper and Energy Super, as well as the 2022 acquisition of Suncorp’s superannuation business.
In a previous conversation with InvestorDaily, Mark Rider, chief investment officer at Brighter Super, said the mergers with Energy Super in 2021 and Suncorp Super in 2022 had provided the scale needed to pursue more targeted opportunities.
Today, Brighter Super manages $35 billion in funds under management, reflecting years of prioritising scale, growth and fulfilling its aim to follow a more targeted investment strategy.
While the Zurich transfer brings in members rather than additional assets, InvestorDaily understands it enhances the fund’s administrative scale and supports the ongoing provision of risk-only insurance benefits, including death, disability and income protection.
“Risk-only products allow us to offer tailored insurance solutions that are not typically available through a group insurance arrangement,” a spokesperson said. “While these members do not bring funds under management, their inclusion contributes to our administration scale, benefiting all members of the fund.”
Brighter Super recently reported its MySuper option returned 10.89 per cent to members, exceeding its three-year average of 10.26 per cent, five-year average of 8.22 per cent and 10-year average of 7.23 per cent.
Rider said the strong result was a welcome outcome for members given the volatility in markets over the past year, with gains underpinned by robust returns in domestic and global equities.
“We’re encouraged by the strength of returns over the past year across all of our diversified investment options and, more recently, the recovery since the volatility sparked by the US trade tariff announcements,” Rider said in July.
“Our long-term strategy, which combines active management with broad diversification, is designed to navigate changing market conditions and protect members’ retirement savings and grow over the long-term.”
Rider reaffirmed the fund’s commitment to outsourcing investment management, noting that “while there’s been additional scale benefits from the mergers” undertaken, the fund doesn’t see a competitive advantage in insourcing.
“We see the best way to do that is by partnering with investment managers,” he said, pointing to the fund’s strategy of working with external specialists to maintain agility and access niche opportunities.
Rider earlier told InvestorDaily the fund had steadily lifted its exposure to unlisted assets in a bid to navigate market uncertainty and deliver stronger long-term returns.
“We continue to see private markets [as] a crucial component of our portfolio construction,” he said. “These assets provide diversification benefits, hedge against inflation, offer strong return prospects, reduce portfolio volatility and align with the long-term focus of our members.”
Last year, Brighter Super committed to investing a further $500 million in Queensland across sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and housing. In December, the fund awarded the first tranche of that commitment, handing Barings a $100 million mandate to acquire real estate assets across the state.
