IMPORTANT CHANGES TO MEMBER INVESTMENT CHOICE OPTIONS

Monday, 28 February 2011 14:17

Vision Super’s current Member Investment Choice (MIC) range has five “Core” and five “Sustainable” Premixed options (Conservative, Balanced, Balanced Growth, Growth and Just Shares) and six Single Sector options (Cash, Diversified Bonds, Australian Equities, International Equities, Property and Alternative).

Effective 1 March 2011, the “Sustainable” MIC options and the Property and Alternative Single Sector options will be closed to new investments. The decision to close these options was taken for the following reasons.

Premixed “Sustainable” Options

The Vision Super “Sustainable” investment options were introduced more than fifteen years ago when superannuation funds and other investors appeared to pay little regard to the environmental, social and governance considerations when formulating their core investment portfolios. This is not the case for Vision Super today.

In 2010 the superannuation ratings agency, SuperRatings conducted a review into sustainability within the Australian superannuation sector. The stated aim of the review was to “cut through the marketing rhetoric” and try to identify those superannuation funds that have genuinely embraced sustainability. The review covered 70 superannuation funds with a combined membership of over 14 million members and $390 billion in assets.

The review was only able to identify 10 of the 70 funds to be demonstrating a genuine commitment to addressing environmental and social responsibilities. Vision Super is very pleased to be recognised as one of those 10 funds. Vision Super is now a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), and has given an undertaking that it will:

Incorporate ESG issues into its investment and decision making processes
Be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices
Seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest
Promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry
Work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles
Report our activities towards implementing the Principles
As a signatory to UNPRI, Vision Super now expects all of its investment managers to incorporate ESG issues into their decision making processes, not just the equity managers as currently applies in the “Sustainable” MIC options
Vision Super is an active member of a number of organisations promoting sustainability in the superannuation industry including the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, the Investor Group on Climate Change and ESG Research Australia

The decision to close the “Sustainable” MIC range should be seen as a positive step and serve as another reminder to the investment markets that ESG considerations are increasingly becoming mainstream in the superannuation industry and are no longer confined to minority specialised product offerings.

Property Single Sector MIC Option

The current property investment strategy has been very successful over the longer term and will continue to form part of Vision Super’s Premixed MIC options (other than Just Shares). However, following a broader review of daily switching, the Trustee has decided that the strategy is no longer suited to being offered as a stand alone Single Sector MIC option.

Alternative Single Sector MIC Option

As is the case with the property asset class, Alternatives will continue to form part of the Premixed MIC options but will no longer be offered as a Single Sector MIC option.

Members with existing investments

The above options are being closed to new investments on 1 March 2011. We will be contacting existing investors in the affected investment options to further explain the changes and their impact, if any, on existing strategies.

If you have any additional questions regarding these changes please contact Member Services on 9911 3222 (or 1300 300 820 for regional callers).

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