Christian Super was named and shamed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in two performance assessments last year,scoring among the worst performing for bothMySuper (default) andchoice (non-default) funds.
APRA’s tests measured returns and fees against a tailored benchmark,and Christian Super was one of just three that failed both categories,alongside Australian Catholic Super and EISS Super.
Following the regulator’s efforts to highlight dud funds,APRA instructed Christian Super to find a merger partner by June this year,after determining members were suffering as a result of persistent underperformance.
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Christian Super charges above-average fees to provide its membership with a range of social impact investments,including disability and homelessness initiatives.
The performance test was part of the federal government’s reform agenda launched last year that forces all super fund investments to result in financial benefits to members,which raised questions around investment strategies that place social impact at the heart of financial decisions.
On the sidelines of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia conference in Sydney on Wednesday,Christian Super chief executive Ross Piper said the fund’s underperformance was caused by a mix of an overly conservative investment approach and poor managers.