VicSuper, the 262,000 member, $8.7 billion superannuation fund, will continue to seek to invest along “sustainable investment” principles while boosting the number of its staff in education and advisory positions as it seeks to grow to an even bigger investor.

“The challenge now is to grow the fund in the current investment climate amid changes in the superannuation industry,” says Michael Dundon, chief executive of VicSuper, the default fund of Victorian public servants.

“There will be a stronger focus on investment strategies during the current market volatility and we will continue to assist our membership to deal with that volatility,” he says.

Dundon says he is wary of merging the fund with another.

“There has to be a cultural fit and a strategic rationale,” he says. “There has to be absolute clarity at what the fund will look like and how it will be integrated.”

Dundon says the fund’s staff may increase. It has about 190 people working at it. He sees more jobs for education and investment advisers at the fund.

He is sanguine about a challenge from lower cost funds.

“The industry is always open to people with a significant market presence like the banks,” says Dundon. “The challenge is to provide member advice and support. That is very challenging in a low cost fee structure.”