BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP PSS) is likely to be appointed master custodian for the merged Print Super/JUST Super, although this will not be confirmed until mid-February.
The merger working party is due to meet next month following the return from holidays of Ross Martin, the chief executive designate and current Print Super CEO. Industry sources indicate that Print Super’s incumbent custodian, BNP PSS, has been chosen in-principle to oversee the merged fund ahead of JUST’s incumbent, National Custodian Services. Similarly, Print’s incumbent member administrator, Pillar Administration, is understood to have received an in-principle nod over JUST administrator Superpartners. Print Super’s head of operations, Michael Rooney, said negotiations were continuing on both the custodian and administrator contracts. He said no final decisions on the new fund’s board or initial staff had yet been made, beyond that of Martin as CEO and Gerard Noonan, current JUST chair, as chair of the merged fund.
The $34 billion Brighter Super is set to shift a significant proportion of equities assets in MySuper from passive to active management. Chief investment officer Mark Rider says the move is possible because of the scale created by mergers, and the fund will be looking to its newly appointed active managers to generate performance through the cycle by taking idiosyncratic risks.
Darcy SongJanuary 21, 2025
