D-day looms for Link on big AustralianSuper mandate

Major superannuation fund administrator, Link Group has acknowledged to shareholders that its largest administration mandate with AustralianSuper is on the line with the outcome likely to be known within months.

At the same time as referencing the loss earlier this year of its administration mandate with big health industry fund, HESTA, Link Group chief executive and managing director, Vivek Bhatia told the annual general meeting that the company remained engaged with AustralianSuper and hoped to update the market by the end of the year.

The AustralianSuper administration mandate represents a cornerstone of the Link Retirement and Superannuation Solutions (RSS) business and has been held for eight years.

Bhatia said Link remained confident of a positive outcome “owing to the strength of our strategic partnership with AustralianSuper over the past eight years”.

“We continue to work collaboratively with AustralianSuper and are excited by the investment we are making in the evolution of our global service offering, in order to deliver optimal outcomes for AustralianSuper’s three million plus members,” he said.

Link reported to the market in June that it had lost the HESTA contract.

Bhatia said that because HESTA planned to transition out of Link by the second quarter of 2024 there was no impact on the RSS results for the current financial year.

Competition has become hotter and more complex before the major superannuation fund administrators as a result of widespread mergers and acquisitions between superannuation funds and a number of decisions by funds to take administration in-house.

There are at least four superannuation fund mergers currently on-foot.