Superannuation
The market in which superannuation funds invest presents unique challenges and opportunities.
Trustees are competing for assets in a heavily regulated environment and need to be agile and decisive, while ensuring the interests of their beneficiaries and other stakeholders are considered.
Good governance for trustee boards requires a mix of appropriate skills, collaboration and information-sharing, and deep understanding of the business. Trustee boards and executives have collective and personal obligations to their various stakeholders: fund members, employers and sponsors, and service providers. Timely access to good information and sound, commercial advice is critical.
How we can help
We work with a range of superannuation funds, both large and small, institutions and businesses on a wide variety of advisory, transactional and disputed matters.
Our partners and lawyers are consistently recognised in leading legal directories and best lawyers guides, so clients know they are getting the best lawyers in the industry to represent them.
We have a particular focus on and experience with 'large fund' superannuation, including public offer, corporate and public sector super funds.
How we work
We take the time to understand the full scope of our client’s legal needs, offering advisory and representation services when they need them.
Our team of superannuation experts work collaboratively with other specialists within our firm to ensure we fully meet the needs of our superannuation clients. We regularly engage our legal specialists in areas such as tax, funds and commercial, and we work constructively with in-house legal and investment teams, communicating regularly to ensure the best outcome for our clients.
We liaise with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, AUSTRAC and the Australian Taxation Office on compliance issues on behalf of our superannuation clients.
We take an active role in the industry as committee and board members of peak bodies and participate in legislative reform sub-committees, write submissions to stakeholders, industry bodies and government.
Superannuation investments
We have a market-leading practice in investment-related work with deep expertise in superannuation, platforms, managed investment schemes and funds management. We advise on all aspects of investments for superannuation funds.
We have capability and experience across a wide variety of local and offshore investment structures, including direct, consortia and syndicates as well as investments intermediated through partnerships, limited liability companies and individually managed accounts.
- Advising various superannuation trustees in relation to a wide range of regulatory and governance matters, including trustee and director obligations, licensing, delegations, conflicts, PDS and other disclosure, breach reporting and handling, remediation, complaints handling and group insurance.
- Providing extensive and detailed advices to various industry and retail fund trustees in relation to fees and costs disclosure, including in relation to the completion of fee template, and the application of successive legislative instruments and regulatory guidance. We have also undertaken workshops and information sessions about fees and costs disclosure.
- Reviewing and commenting on PDSs, incorporated by reference materials and application forms for numerous trustees. The work requires a highly technical familiarity of relevant regulatory provisions and current areas of enforcement focus for the regulators, such as ESG and greenwashing.
- Acting in relation to significant transactions involving superannuation fund trustees, including mergers, successor fund transfers, investment management, fund administration, custody, data handling and privacy, and other outsourcing arrangements.
- Advising trustee clients on matters relating to recovery of overpayments and disputes with employers and service providers.
- Advising various super funds on technology procurement agreements with their major technology vendors.
- Completing work for the trustee of a large industry fund on its digital transformation project, which included engagement with five different vendors in relation to a suite of products required to transform the fund’s member-facing and back-office functions. Outsourcing, including provision of cloud computing services, IP ownership and privacy issues were all considered. This matter drew specialist expertise from not only our superannuation team, but also our IT and commercial teams, to deliver a good commercial outcome for the client on a business and time-critical project.
- Advising on investments by trustees, including private equity and sustainability investments, involving legal due diligence, structuring, advice and review of shareholder agreements, investment fund documents, ISDA and securities lending agreements, and working capital instruments.
- Advising on insurance, including review of policy wording, tenders, and claims.
- Advising on major remediation exercises, involving advice to the trustee about its obligations and ongoing review of communications and remedial measures.
- Acting in the restructure of related corporate superannuation and managed funds.
- Advising on defined benefit arrangements, including addressing surpluses and deficits and proposals for the amendment or termination of defined benefit arrangements.
- Advising on disputes and litigation, including AFCA proceedings.
- Acting for various superannuation funds on offshore mandates across various asset classes and through single investor and pooled structures, including where the manager (in particular, in the fixed interest and credit asset classes) had not dealt with an Australian superannuation fund investor previously.
- Acting for a superannuation fund in an incorporated joint venture to invest in a series of renewables assets, including restructuring the first portfolio of assets and funding the new series of acquisitions (which included an equity investment by the portfolio manager).
- Advising a superannuation fund on internalisation of management of renewable energy assets and, separately, a steelworks plant.
- Acting for a superannuation fund in respect of the restructure, externalisation of management and pooled portfolio refinance of a portfolio of approximately $1.45 billion of real property assets across the retail, commercial, hospitality and classes.
- Acting on the establishment and co-investment arrangements in respect of $3 billion of funds with build-to-sell residential development assets.
- Acting for a superannuation fund in respect of its additional $100 million investment in a private equity fund alongside other co-investors, concurrently with a separate $400 million investment into a ‘fund of one’ structure with the same private equity firm.
- Acting for Australia’s largest private equity manager to establish a new wholesale offering specialising in investing in global private equity opportunities (both listed and unlisted).
- Acting for a large listed Australian manager on an ongoing basis in relation to new single and multi-asset private credit funds for investment by superannuation funds.
