Retirement Income
Member Outcomes Assessment for 2022/23
This is our annual Member Outcomes Assessment for our Retirement Income Allocated Pension for the 2022/23 financial year.
It provides information on how our Retirement Income Allocated Pension has performed during the year ending 30 June 2023, including how it has performed against industry peers.
Through this assessment, we aim to demonstrate how we are looking after our members’ financial interests.
Our performance is measured against four key focus areas:
- Investments (including investment strategy, investment returns and levels of risk)
- Fees and costs (including fees and operating costs)
- Options, benefits and facilities
- Scale
Who we are
We are the super fund for the Western Australian (WA) public sector and have over 85 years' experience managing the super savings of current and former public sector employees. With around 247,000 members and over $36 billion in funds under management (as at 30 June 2023), we’re the largest super fund based in WA.
WA public sector super fund
Largest based in WA
85 years' experience
247,000 members
$36b funds under management
Our purpose
To help members achieve a quality retirement
We put our members first in everything we do, which means they can trust us to look after their super. We support them in making informed decisions about their super and we advocate for them when it comes to their super, retirement and insurance.
| Our purpose | To help members achieve a quality retirement |
|---|---|
| Our vision | To be the fund of choice for current and former WA public sector employees |
How we've performed - our four key focus areas
1. Investments
Investment returns
Our Retirement Income Allocated Pension plans are compared to the SuperRatings fund crediting survey over the five years to 30 June 20232. This survey compares returns of Retirement Income products across the industry. Throughout this assessment we refer to this as the ‘fund universe’.
Over this time, Cash, Conservative and Balanced plans have performed close to median, while the Growth plan has performed slightly below median. A key point to note is that administration fees are deducted from our performance detailed below, but this is not the case for all comparative funds in the universe, whereby administration fees are charged separately. Therefore, it is not an entirely like-for-like comparison. A more conservative asset allocation in the Growth plan was also a reason for under-performance.
We are continuously looking for ways to improve our performance against our objectives. Some of the key processes we have put in place to monitor and strengthen our performance include:
- Making additional investments in unlisted infrastructure and private debt
- Enhancing our approach to managing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, including implementing lower carbon emission listed share portfolios, and
- Reviewing Strategic Asset Allocations to make sure they remain appropriate
Level of investment risk
The level of investment risk for each plan is shown in the table below.
Risk levels are determined based on the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA’s) guidance, which describe the number of years in a 20-year period the plan is expected to experience a negative annual return. Using this guidance, we estimate the risk of each investment plan based on the expected return and risk characteristics of investments, the likely fluctuation in returns and the relationship between asset classes.
Risk scale for RI Allocated Pension investment plans
As at 30 June 2023
Investment strategy
The aim of the investment strategy for our Retirement Income plans is to meet our investment objectives. Investments are diversified across a range of different asset classes, to improve the risk-return profile and reduce the impact that any one asset class could have on the overall investment returns.
The investment strategy and objectives are reviewed annually and take into account a range of factors, such as the average age of our Retirement Income Allocated Pension members, so that we can ensure that sufficient, but not excessive, risks are taken.
For more information on our investment strategy, performance and risk visit the Retirement Income options product dashboard.
2. Fees and costs
Fees
Costs for managing Retirement Income investment plans include a percentage fee for administration and investment costs1. This is estimated to be between 0.18% p.a. and 0.60% p.a., administration costs of 0.12% p.a. and transaction costs up to 0.09% p.a. of the value of the investment, depending on the investment plan chosen.
We are positioned in the lowest fee quartile of all super funds for our Retirement Income investment plans (as at June 2023)2.
We aim to provide our members with products that are fair and equitably priced. We charge fees on a cost recovery basis, which means that fees are set to cover our projected actual costs and our requirements to maintain appropriate reserves. This allows us to continue providing value-for-money products and services to meet our members’ needs.
Operating costs
Our operating expenses, relative to the size of our membership base and assets, are in the lowest quartile of all super funds and are well below industry medians2.
Our cost per member has remained relatively stable over the past five years, which shows that we are able to deliver superannuation products and services efficiently. Based on a number of assumptions around funds under management and member numbers, our fund operating cost-to-asset ratio is forecast to remain stable.
Our size allows us to benefit from reduced investment costs. Our management expense ratio, which is the cost to manage our investments, is amongst the lowest of all super funds3.
3. Options, benefits and facilities
We provide a range of member information and support services.
These include:
- Insurance claims consultants
- Member Services call centre consultants
- Online Live chat services
- A secure Member Online portal
- One-on-one Retirement Options appointments, virtual (online) or in person
We also offer a range of seminars and webinars at no extra cost to our members, to support our members in making informed decisions regarding their super, retirement and insurance.
4. Scale
To continue to deliver value-for-money products and services to our members, it is important for us to have adequate scale in terms of funds under management and number of members. Our current membership size of around 247,000 and FuM of over $36 billion allows us to offer our members competitive investment and administration costs, and access to a wide range of products and services, including investment options .
Board declaration
The GESB Board has determined that GESB is promoting the financial interests of the beneficiaries of the fund.
Jo Gaines - Chair
Ben Palmer - Chief Executive Officer
Footnotes:
1 These are not charged to members as a fee but are deducted from investment returns before earnings are applied to their account.
2 SuperRatings Smart Database – Pension Fund Crediting Survey January 2024.
3 SuperRatings Annual Benchmarking Report 2024.
Thank you for printing this page. Remember to come back to gesb.wa.gov.au for the latest information as our content is updated regularly. This information is correct as at 08 May 2024.