Delivering investment fee savings for members
In 2022, Media Super merged with Cbus Super who shares a strong commitment to our members and the industries that they work in. As part of a larger growing fund, our commitment to invest in the best interests of our members remains unchanged but our investment approach and strategy has evolved.
In recent years, the number of investments managed internally by our investment team has grown, and we continue to look at ways to manage more of our members money inhouse, especially in areas like shares, infrastructure and debt.
How does this benefit members?
In keeping with our focus on delivering strong long-term returns for our members, since we embarked on our internalisation strategy, we have also realised over $1 billion in investment fee and cost savings1.
We also believe that having strong internal investment capabilities enables us to make more informed investment decisions across our portfolio. We currently manage strategies across a range of asset classes such as Australian, global and emerging market shares, infrastructure, debt and cash.
Did you know?
Approximately 34%2 of our investments are managed internally, and we expect this to grow to around 50% by 2028.
We invest with a range of internal and external investment managers that meet our selection criteria and fit within our investment strategy, such as Cbus Property*. Simply put, you can think of the difference between an internal and external manager as:
Internal
Investments where our investment team has the day-to-day responsibility for managing these assets.
External
Typically provide specialist investment services to the Fund and are responsible for a set amount of our assets, for a percentage-based fee. They are managed in accordance with strict rules agreed to by us.
1The cumulative savings are estimated for each financial year from FY18 to FY24 and summed. The approach employed is to multiply the annual average size of the Growth option by the reduction in investment fees for each year relative to FY17. Media Super merged with Cbus on 9 April 2022 and as a result, pre-existing Media Super investment options were closed and Media Super members were transferred to equivalent Media Super branded investment options under United Super Pty Ltd. Due to the merger, the historical fee and cost savings calculated prior to this date also only relates to Cbus’ investment options.
2 As at 30 June 2024. Approximately 34% of our assets in-house, including hybrid strategies.
*Cbus Property Pty Ltd is a wholly-owned entity of United Super Pty Ltd and is responsible for the development and management of a portfolio of Cbus Super’s property investments.