Mercer to take over ING’s $3b Living Super biz
Six months after NYSE-listed Mercer International’s local outpost picked up $37.8 billion worth of superannuation assets from Westpac, it has swooped on another bank’s pensions honey pot.
ING Australia is offloading its Living Super business. AP
Mercer is set to take over the management of Dutch bank ING’s Aussie superannuation business, dubbed Living Super, which was set up in 2012 and managed nearly $3 billion at the end of the 2022 financial year. It has a sizeable investment portfolio, including about $400 million in Australian equities and $1.86 billion invested in unlisted unit trusts.
The change, which is effective December 1, would see ING handover Living Super’s management to Mercer via a successor fund transfer, which is the superannuation industry’s preferred way of implementing M&A or change of control transactions. The “Living Super” brand would continue to exist, but it would run as a sub-plan of OneSuper, which would be managed by Mercer Investment (Australia) Limited. Mercer would become the asset manager and asset consultant.
“Our decision to transfer Living Super to OneSuper was made in the interest of wanting to deliver strong outcomes for members. Through the transfer, members will begin to enjoy even more benefits over time including; reduced fees, potentially better investment outcomes and an improved digital experience,” an ING spokesperson told Street Talk on Sunday. Mercer declined to comment.
It is the fourth such deal out of Mercer’s Australian office in the past two years. It is best known for picking up Westpac’s $37.8 billion BT Super business in early 2022 as the bank withdrew from wealth management post the banking royal commission. The deal took Mercer to $63 billion in superannuation
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