Catholic Super funds to merge
National Catholic Superannuation Fund (NCSF) and Catholic Super have agreed on a merger, which they hope to be in place by the end of the year.
The merged funds will have approximately 73,000 members, around $3 billion of funds under management and a presence in every state and territory.
“We will truly be an Australia-wide and more diversified fund. With greater scale and a broader national network, we will be able to respond to member and employer needs effectively and efficiently,” Catholic Super chairman Peter Bugden said.
NCSF has 36,000 members and is administered by Catholic Church Insurance with offices throughout Australia, while Catholic Super is a founding member of the Industry Funds’ group and was Australia’s top-performing super fund in 2007.
It has 36,500 members and also owns and operates a financial services company, CSF Financial Services, of which NCSF currently uses the services.
NCSF manager and secretary Bob Faorlin said due to a “broader membership”, there is room for expansion within the financial services arm that will allow it to cover the entire country.
The two funds are yet to decide on a mutual insurance company. NCSF currently uses ING while Catholic Super has recently appointed Tower.
Faorlin said they would choose an insurance company for the merged fund based on which gives the “best service to members of both funds, not just one fund now”.
As both NCSF and Catholic Super work towards a merger, they will begin coordinating their member and employer education programs, pension services and introduce additional online facilities.
A name of the merged fund has also yet to be decided upon, however, it will signify both the size and national access of the fund, Faorlin said.
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