QSuper and Sunsuper merger: What it means for you and your clients

QSuper and Sunsuper will soon be coming together to form Australian Retirement Trust. There is some important information about the merger that you and your clients should know.

What’s happening?

QSuper and Sunsuper will soon be coming together for the benefit of our members.

Australian Retirement Trust will be one of the country’s largest superannuation funds, taking care of over $200 billion in retirement savings for more than two million members.

QSuper will continue as part of Australian Retirement Trust for:

• Existing QSuper members
• Employees of the Queensland Government
• Employees of existing QSuper default employers
• Spouses and children (who join while under age 25) of QSuper members.

This merger is scheduled to be completed on 28 February 2022, subject to outstanding conditions and approvals.

What the merger means for you

Existing QSuper authorities and beneficiary nominations

Any authorities to release information or beneficiary nominations your clients have with QSuper will remain on their QSuper accounts within Australian Retirement Trust.

Access to QSuper client information and other support

There will be no immediate changes to your current key QSuper contacts, the way you contact us, the way you work with us, or the services we provide you including:

• Access to your QSuper clients’ account information via QSuper Client Summaries
• Specialised service from our financial adviser support line
• Regular communications and webinars about our products and investments.

We’ll continue to partner with you to ensure our combined expertise results in the best possible outcomes for your clients.

If you are an adviser currently registered with Sunsuper

If you currently have clients with Sunsuper and are a registered adviser with them, please be aware that the QSuper and public offer parts of Australian Retirement Trust won’t have exactly the same service offerings from the date of the merger.

For example, you won’t be able to access your QSuper clients’ details or request advice fee payments from QSuper accounts via Adviser Online (Sunsuper’s current online hub for financial advisers) from 28 February 2022.

However, we’re committed to making it easy for you to advise your clients with confidence, so we’ll be working hard in the background to align our services and streamline your experience as quickly as we can. We’ll keep you updated throughout this process.

Changes to QSuper eligibility rules

From 28 February 2022, new members must meet at least one of the following conditions to join the QSuper part of Australian Retirement Trust:

• Be employed by the Queensland Government or QSuper default employer
• Be a spouse of a QSuper member
• Be a child (who joins while under age 25) of a QSuper member.

A spouse includes someone the member is legally married to or in a de facto relationship with (including same sex partners).

A child includes adopted children, step-children, and the children of the member’s spouse. They do not need to be financially dependent on the member.

There will be an exception: If your client is not a QSuper member and wants to start a QSuper Lifetime Pension (and are otherwise eligible to start a Lifetime Pension), they will still be able to open a QSuper Accumulation account for the purpose of us receiving the money they want to use to start their Lifetime Pension. This Accumulation account will then be closed when their money is transferred to their Lifetime Pension.

Your clients are also invited to join the public offer part of Australian Retirement Trust after 28 February 2022 at australianretirementtrust.com.au

Clients you have recommended join QSuper

If you have recommended QSuper to your client but they have not yet joined, they can still apply to join before the new eligibility conditions are in place, by doing so before the merger:

• Online at qsuper.qld.gov.au/join by the evening of 25 February 2022
• Over the phone before 6.00pm (AEST) Friday, 25 February 2022
• By completing and returning a paper Open an Accumulation Account form by Friday, 18 February 2022. Forms can be found here.

Clients who have applied to join QSuper

If your client has applied to join QSuper, their account will need to be activated for them to become a QSuper member.

To activate their account, your client will need to put money into it within 12 months of when they made their application.

To put money in their account, your client can:

• Combine their super via Member Online, the QSuper app, or by completing a Consolidate with QSuper form which can be found here.¹
• Make a voluntary payment, as little as $10, from their bank account using their unique BPAY® details found in Member Online or the QSuper app, or complete a Deposit form which can be found here.

What the merger means for QSuper members

When we merge, there will be no changes to QSuper members’:

• Investments
• Insurance
• Account details.

QSuper members’ defined benefit entitlements will not be affected, and there will be no impact to current insurance claims or members on graduated return to work programs.

Your clients who are QSuper members will be sent an email or letter over the coming weeks letting them know about the merger and what it may mean for them. These communications will include a link to or copy of the Important Information booklet January 2022 which provides key details about the merger.

QSuper and Sunsuper will send communications separately up until the merger, so you and your clients may receive communications from both of us.

After the merger, you and your clients may receive communications on behalf of the QSuper part of Australian Retirement Trust and the public offer part of Australian Retirement Trust.

Leveraging our size to keep fees low

Following the merger, we expect to have the size and scale to ensure our administration fees remain among the lowest in the industry.

QSuper and Sunsuper have agreed that the administration fees members pay from their QSuper Accumulation account(s) and Income account(s), and those that are deducted from the Lifetime Pension pool, will be reduced from 0.16% to 0.15% per annum from 1 July 2022.²

This decision to reduce fees is subject to confirmation by the trustee of Australian Retirement Trust after 28 February 2022. We’ll update you and our members once this decision has been made.

In the short term, as we are moving assets, investment transaction costs will be incurred that will be reflected in the unit price for some investment options, as outlined in the Important Information booklet January 2022.

Clients who have both a QSuper and Sunsuper account

If your client has both a QSuper and Sunsuper account, these accounts will not automatically be combined when we merge, or at any other time. This aims to ensure they do not lose any benefits (for example, insurance) they have with either fund. This means that if your client has a beneficiary nomination or authority on one account, it won’t automatically apply to the other account when we merge.

We’ll contact these members after the merger to let them know their options.

Clients who wish to start a QSuper Income account or Lifetime Pension before the merger

To allow for processing times, your clients will be unable to start a QSuper Income account and/or Lifetime Pension before the merger via Member Online between 5.00pm (AEST) Friday, 18 February and 11.59pm (AEST) Sunday, 27 February 2022.

Paper-based Open a Transition to Retirement account and Open a Retirement Income account and/or Lifetime Pension forms will need to be received by QSuper by Friday, 18 February 2022 to ensure we have enough time to process them before the merger. Forms can be found here.

If your client’s form is received after this date, they will be required to complete a new form (which will be available on our website from 28 February 2022) or they can open their account through Member Online.

Impacts to forms, factsheets, and disclosure documents

As this merger involves a change of trustee, there will be some other paper-based forms that we will not be able to accept after the merger. Visit the forms page on our website for details.

Updated forms, factsheets, and disclosure documents will be available on our website from 28 February 2022.

Summary of key dates

What’s next?

This merger is scheduled to be completed on 28 February 2022, subject to outstanding conditions and approvals. In the meantime, there is nothing you need to do.

For more information

For more about the merger and how together it’s more super, read our frequently asked questions for advisers.

 

®Registered to BPAY Ptd Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518.

1. Before your client consolidates their super, they should consider if withdrawing savings from their current fund/s could lock in a previous investment loss. They should also check with their other fund/s if they will lose access to benefits such as insurance or pension options, if the other fund/s will charge exit penalties or fees, or if there are tax implications.
2. These fee changes will not impact the amount of administration fees paid from Australian Retirement Trust’s reserves.