Two local government super funds in Victoria and Tasmania have ruled out a merger – but nothing else – in discussions around how they might work together to benefit members.

Vision Super chief executive Rob Brooks confirmed the Victorian fund was talking with Tasmania’s Quadrant Super, which is about a tenth the size of Vision in funds under management, to assess the possibilities of creating better outcomes for members through “leveraging” off each other’s capabilities. “We’ve been in talks for a little while to see what two funds with a majority of members in local government can do to benefit the members,” Brooks said. “Nothing has been ruled out, other than a merger. There is absolutely no inclination to merge.” Brooks said it made sense for the roughly $4 billion Vision and $400 million Quadrant to discuss the potential of growing their scale through “strategic alliances”, given the common membership base. He downplayed the significance of the talks, however, saying the funds have been talking to each other for 20 years. “We’re talking to each other all the time, and from time to time things get warmed up a little. We’re just going through a warm patch,” he said. Alliance possibilities were to be found in many areas, including administration, insurance, and aligning tenders. Vision Super has already shown its appetite for working with other local government super funds. In April, it started running the administration of the $1.4 billion South Australian local government superannuation scheme, Local Super.