Lonsec ‘Recommends’ 11 Brighter Super investment options

20 January 2025

Brighter Super has received ‘Recommended’ ratings from investment research firm Lonsec for six Accumulation options and five Pension options in a strong endorsement of the fund’s product and investment credentials¹.

In assessments published on 20 December 2024, Lonsec issued ‘Recommended’ ratings for Brighter Super’s MySuper, Balanced, Conservative Balanced, Stable, Growth and Secure Accumulation options and Balanced, Conservative Balanced, Stable, Growth and Secure Pension options.

It is the first time Lonsec has rated Brighter Super’s investment options which were streamlined on 31 May 2024 from a combined suite of 32 options to 16 investment options, 12 of which are available to all members. This has also delivered the member benefit of a recent reduction in percentage-based administration fees of 0.14% capped at $650 per financial year which went live on 1 January 2025.

Brighter Super Head of Advice, Steven O’Donoghue, welcomed the ‘Recommended’ rating from Lonsec.

“The ‘Recommended’ outcome for our multi-manager options reflects the strength of the Brighter Super team and our processes as we realise the benefits of our recent mergers,’’ Mr O’Donoghue said.

Lonsec’s report said the ‘Recommended’ rating was supported “by a credible investment team and well-structured investment process”.

“Portfolio implementation is well considered making use of both active and passive approaches enabling the fee budget to be directed towards unlisted assets.’’

Lonsec’s report said Chief Investment Officer Mark Rider and other members of the investment team were held in high regard. The team’s broad levels of industry experience with backgrounds in asset allocation and manager selection were a “key strength relative to superannuation peers’’.

A ‘Recommended’ rating indicates that Lonsec has strong conviction the product can generate risk-adjusted returns in line with relevant objectives of the asset class or strategy.

Mr O’Donoghue said Brighter Super is committed to working with financial advisers to make it easier to assist their Brighter Super clients.

“Brighter Super wants all members to retire confidently with the support of advice. This was reinforced through recent findings from our Brighter Super and Investment Trends Retirement Income Report², which found acting on financial advice was the biggest differentiator in boosting retirement confidence among pre-retirees.”

The report², published in November 2024, found significant knowledge gaps with one third of pre-retiree respondents unsure of what action they would take regarding their super when they reach preservation age.

Two thirds of respondents were unaware of whether their super fund offered retirement products and almost four out of five felt they needed more guidance.

Brighter Super is working to close the advice gap through their financial advice team of 18 superannuation advisers and 40 specialists who engage directly with members across Queensland, and by working with over 1400 Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) to ensure members receive the advice they need.

Brighter Super has a dedicated phone line for IFAs, a self-service online portal for IFAs, allows all advice fee types to be charged by advisers, has enabled limited transaction authority for IFAs on client accounts, and recently updated its forms and processes to accept digital signatures from members and advisers on most forms.

“Additionally, having our Brighter Super investments rated by Lonsec helps advisers understand our investment processes and how we compare to others in the market, and highlights the strength of Brighter Super as a great fund for members and advisers to be in,’’ Mr O’Donoghue said.

“The Lonsec ratings will support inclusion on Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) approved product lists and enables advisers to confidently recommend our fund to their clients.”