Westpac and BT Funds Management have entered into a heads of agreement to merge BT’s personal and corporate superannuation funds with Mercer Super.
As of 31 March 2022, BT’s personal and corporate superannuation funds had total funds under administration of $37.8 billion.
As part of the agreement, BT employees who support these funds will be offered employment at Mercer.
“The Trustee engaged broadly across the industry and after a robust and competitive process this merger will create a larger superannuation fund with the potential to deliver improved performance, lower fees, and broader member services,” BT trustee chair, Gai McGrath, said.
“It also maintains continuity of knowledge and service for BT Super members.”
Westpac has confirmed this merger does not include superannuation held on the BT Panorama and Asgard platforms.
Meanwhile, Westpac has also agreed to sell its advance management asset business (Advance) to Mercer Australia which reported $43.7 billion funds under management at the end of March.
“This is a further step in the simplification of Westpac and supports the group’s focus on banking in Australia and New Zealand. It also provides significant benefits for BT super members, new opportunities for our people, and redefines the landscape of superannuation in Australia,” Westpac specialist businesses chief executive Jason Yetton said.
“Since the formation of Westpac’s specialist businesses division around two years ago, we have made significant headway on our portfolio simplification agenda, having announced eight business sales, of which five have now completed.”
Westpac said the net effect of the transaction and sale costs and the Advance sale over the remainder of FY22 and FY23 is expected to be an after-tax gain of $225 million.
Both are also expected to deliver an increase of approximately eight basis points in Westpac’s common equity tier one capital ratio.
Both the merger and sale are expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.
Neil Griffiths
Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.
Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.
