Feb 21 (Reuters) - Australian Retirement Fund (ART), one of the country's largest super funds, entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA.AX) to manage its corporate pension fund, the lender said on Tuesday.
If the agreement goes through, Group Super's A$12.3 billion ($8.48 billion) of funds under management (FUM) and 67,000 members will be transferred to ART, which has A$230 billion in FUM.
Just last week, ART entered into a similar MoU with super fund AvSuper, which has more than 5,300 members and A$2 billion in FUM.
Australia has the world's third-largest pension pool, as its superannuation funds have grown to more than A$3.3 trillion from A$148 ?billion over the last three decades.
In November, the government said it plans to overhaul the financial disclosure rules for its pension funds industry. This will mean that the financial and accounting reporting obligations for these funds will need to align with those of public companies.
Considering the evolving superannuation landscape, the trustee board has decided to explore options for a potential merger partner, CBA said.
"As a large, well-established fund, Australian Retirement Trust can offer a broader range of products and services at competitive fee levels for members," said Rosemary Vilgan, chair of Group Super's trustee board.
The deal will not include any financial consideration, a spokesperson for Group Super said in an e-mailed response to Reuters.
Brisbane-based ART was formed in 2022 through the merger of two of Australia's biggest super funds - Sunsuper and QSuper.
($1 = 1.4507 Australian dollars)
