The Board overseeing Catholic Super and the Board of TelstraSuper have signed a binding Heads of Agreement and agreed to proceed with a ‘merger of equals’ between the two funds.

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What's changing from 1 July 2024?

In May 2024 we sent an update to our members about some upcoming account changes – as well as changes to key super rates and thresholds – all set to take effect from 1 July 2024. We’ve included additional detail on the key changes here, plus some handy FAQs on the fee changes.

Changes to your accounts

From 1 July, a number of changes to our super and retirement income accounts will take effect, including changes to some of our fees, changes to our insurance, and changes to our investments. Explore the links below to find out more.

The changes set out below will apply to all Catholic Super accumulation accounts from 1 July 2024.

Changes from 1 July 2024

Yearly asset-based administration fee reduction

We’re reducing the yearly asset-based administration fee. This fee is currently 0.22% a year. It’s only applied to the first $500,000 of your account balance and is capped at a maximum charge of $1,100 a year. From 1 July this fee will reduce to 0.19% and the maximum charge will reduce to $950 a year.^

Note that the weekly administration fee of $1 remains unchanged.

New insurance fee

A new insurance fee will apply, but only for members who have insurance cover through the Fund. The insurance fee will be calculated at 4% of premiums. From 1 July our insurance costs will increase to reflect the inclusion of this 4% fee, with a single amount deducted from the member’s account each month.*

^ No asset-based administration fee applies to any portion of your balance above $500,000. Therefore, the maximum asset-based administration fee that can be charged on any single account can’t exceed $950 a year. 

* As a super fund, we receive a 15% tax rebate from the government for the insurance premiums we charge our members. We then pass this rebate back to you by reducing the amount of tax we deduct from your account (not all funds return the rebate to their members). It means you’re essentially receiving a 15% discount on the cost of any insurance cover you may have with us.

The fee reductions set out below will apply to all Catholic Super Retirement Income and Transition to Retirement Income accounts from 1 July 2024.

Changes from 1 July 2024

Weekly administration fee 

We’re reducing the weekly administration fee from $1.95 a week to $1 a week. 

Yearly asset-based administration fee

We’re reducing the yearly asset-based administration fee. This fee is currently 0.20% a year. It’s only applied to the first $500,000 of your account balance and is capped at a maximum charge of $1,000 a year. From 1 July this fee will reduce to 0.19% a year and the maximum charge will reduce to $950 a year.^

^ No asset-based administration fee applies to any portion of your balance above $500,000. Therefore, the maximum asset-based administration fee that can be charged across your combined retirement accounts can’t exceed $950 a year.

We continue to review the terms and conditions of our insurance offering to ensure that the needs of members are being met. Some of the terms and conditions in the insurance policy will be changing on 1 July 2024. A summary is provided below.

  • From 1 July 2024, if an eligible member ceases to be an Australian resident, their cover will continue.
  • For members trying to make a total and permanent disablement (TPD) claim under an immediate assessment condition, such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, the change we are making to the insurance policy aligns the member’s condition with their inability to work.
  • For members who fix their default death and TPD cover, fixing cover means that both types of cover will become fixed cover.

Increase in time horizon for some investment objectives

Each of our investment options has a time frame (or ‘time horizon’) over which we aim to achieve the option’s stated investment objective. From 1 July 2024, we’re increasing the time horizons for our Balanced and Capital Stable investment objectives to 10 years, as shown in the table below.

This will align the time horizon for these options with our other Diversified options, and with the time horizons used for the Your Future, Your Super performance test.

Option nameCurrent net return investment objectiveNew net return investment objective
Balanced (Accumulation / TTR Income)2% above CPI over rolling 7-year periods2% above CPI over rolling 10-year periods
Balanced (Retirement Income)2.5% above CPI over rolling 7-year periods2.5% above CPI over rolling 10-year periods
Capital Stable (Accumulation / TTR Income)1.5% above CPI over rolling 5-year periods1.5% above CPI over rolling 10-year periods
Capital Stable (Retirement Income)2% above CPI over rolling 5-year periods2% above CPI over rolling 10-year periods

Strategic asset allocations range changes:

We’re making small adjustments to some of the permitted ranges for investing in the Australian shares and overseas asset classes in some of the Diversified options as follows:

Growth Plus

The strategic asset allocations permitted range will change for the Australian shares and Overseas shares asset classes.

Asset classCurrent permitted rangeNew permitted range
Australian shares33-53%25-53%
Overseas shares38-58%30-58%
Growth

The strategic asset allocations permitted range will change for the Australian shares asset class.

Asset classCurrent permitted rangeNew permitted range
Australian shares25-60%20-55%
Balanced

The strategic asset allocations permitted range will change for the Australian shares asset class.

Asset classCurrent permitted rangeNew permitted range
Australian shares10-45%5-40%

 

Standard risk measure (SRM) changes:

A standard risk measure (SRM) is given to each investment option. It’s designed to provide members with an indication of how many years of negative returns we might expect from that investment option over a 20-year period. The SRMs for all but one investment option will be reducing from 1 July 2024. (The SRM for the Cash investment option will remain unchanged at zero.)

Investment optionCurrent SRMNew SRM from 1 July 2024
 Negative returnsSRM labelNegative returnsSRM label
DIVERSIFIED OPTIONS
Growth Plus5.1High4.7High
Growth4.9High4.4High
Balanced Growth4.2High3.7Medium to high
MySuper4.2High3.7Medium to high
Balanced3.7Medium to high3.2Medium to high
Capital Stable2.3Medium1.8Low to medium
Index Diversified4.9High4.5High
Future Focus3.8Medium to high3.2Medium to high
SECTOR SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Australian Shares6Very high5.8High
Overseas Shares5.5High5.3High
Diversified Fixed Interest2.1Medium1.9Low to medium
Cash0Very low0Very low

Investment fees and costs for each investment option will remain unchanged for the next year. Performance fees and transaction costs have been recalculated based on the experience of the past 12 months. For the Future Focus investment option, transaction costs for the past year were 0.38% per annum as a result of some new investments which focus on the transition to a lower-carbon economy.

Below are the investment fees for each investment option (for accumulation and retirement income accounts) effective 1 July 2024. 

Investment optionInvestment fees and costsPerformance fee (5-year average)Total investment fees and costsTransaction costs
Growth Plus0.53%0.03%0.56%0.11%
Growth0.48%0.03%0.51%0.11%
Balanced Growth0.49%0.02%0.51%0.11%
MySuper0.49%0.02%0.51%0.11%
Balanced0.40%0.02%0.42%0.10%
Capital Stable0.35%0.02%0.37%0.10%
Future Focus0.63%0.00%0.63%0.38%
Index Diversified0.05%0.00%0.05%0.05%
Overseas Shares0.42%0.02%0.44%0.07%
Australian Shares0.43%0.02%0.45%0.08%
Diversified Fixed Interest0.14%0.00%0.14%0.04%
Cash0.04%0.00%0.04%0.00%
Defined Benefit0.47%0.03%0.50%0.12%

Changes to super rates and thresholds

A number of the thresholds and rates set by the government will also change from 1 July, as detailed below.

From 1 July 2024, the limit for the concessional contributions will increase to $30,000. Currently, the limit is $27,500 per financial year.

From 1 July 2024, the limit for the non-concessional contributions will increase to $120,000. Currently, the limit is $110,000 per financial year.

From 1 July 2024, the cap for the bring-forward of non-concessional contributions will increase to $360,000 over a three-year period. Currently, the cap is $330,000.
Total super balance  2023-24Bring forward cap  2023-24Total super balance  2024-25Bring forward cap 2024-25
Less than $1.68 million$330,000 (three years)Less than $1.66 million$360,000 (three years)
$1.68 million to <$1.79 million$220,000 (two years)$1.66 million to <$1.78 million$240,000 (two years)
$1.79 million to <$1.9 million$110,000 (one year)$1.78 million to <$1.9 million$120,000 (one year)
$1.9 million or greaterNil$1.9 million or greaterNil

From 1 July 2024, the SG contribution rate will increase to 11.50%. Currently, the SG contribution rate is 11%. The maximum SG contribution base for financial year 2024-2025 is $65,070 per quarter.

Income Financial year 2023-24From 1 July 2024
(for financial year 2024-25)
Minimum income$43,445$45,400
Maximum income$58,445$60,400

The fee changes explained

We’ve put together some FAQs to explain the changes we’re making to our fees and costs in more detail, and to help you understand what they mean for your account.

Reducing our administration fees

Our Fund has grown in recent years (for example through our merger with Equip Super), and that’s allowed us to operate the Fund more cost-effectively. More recently, we also consolidated and streamlined the Fund’s operations across our different brands, which led to cost and efficiency improvements.

We’re passing those benefits on to our members with these fee reductions – because as a profit-to-member super fund, that’s what we do. We use our profits to benefit you, our members, by creating and maintaining a range of products and services to help you achieve better outcomes for your retirement.

Catholic Super is on par with other industry super funds, and we’re cheaper than the overall super fund average.* What’s more, independent ratings agency, SuperRatings, has consistently awarded us their highest platinum performance rating as a ‘Best value for money’ fund.^ 

* Chant West Super Fund (MySuper) fee survey December 2023.
^ SuperRatings platinum performance rating as a ‘Best value for money’ fund, more than 15 years in a row. 

For accumulation members:

From 1 July the yearly asset-based administration fee for accumulation accounts will reduce to 0.19% and the maximum charge will reduce to $950 a year.

The asset-based administration fee only applies to the first $500,000 of your account balance. No asset-based administration fee is charged on any portion of your balance that’s above $500,000. This effectively caps the fee at a maximum of $950 a year. If you have a smaller account balance, the asset-based administration fee you pay will be lower.

For retirement income members:

From 1 July, the yearly asset-based administration fee for our retirement income accounts will reduce to 0.19% a year and the maximum charge will reduce to $950 a year.

The asset-based administration fee only applies to the first $500,000 of your account balance. No asset-based administration fee is charged on any portion of your balance that’s above $500,000.

If you have more than one Retirement Income account, this applies to your combined account balance. Therefore, the maximum asset-based administration fee that can be charged can’t exceed $950 a year across all your retirement income accounts combined.

If you have a smaller account balance, the yearly asset-based administration fee you pay will be lower.

Log into your account online and head to the ‘account activity’ section at any time to see the fees you’re paying for your super or retirement income account (and any insurance you may have with that account).

In addition, each year we send you a detailed account statement which includes information about the fees you’ve paid over the course of the financial year (to 30 June).

You can also learn more about fees and costs for each of our products on our website and also in the relevant PDS for your account.

The new insurance fee

The new insurance fee will apply from 1 July 2024, but only for members who have insurance cover through the Fund. The fee does not apply to members who don’t have insurance cover through the Fund.

The insurance fee will be calculated at 4% of premiums. From 1 July our insurance costs will increase to reflect the inclusion of this 4% fee, with a single amount deducted from the member’s account each month.*

So, from 1 July, your cost per $1,000 of insurance cover will include the premium you pay (which goes to our insurer, MetLife), and the 4% insurance fee (which is paid to the Fund), rounded to two decimal places. Insurance costs are deducted from your account as a single amount each month.

Components of your insurance cost from 1 July 2024
Insurance premium
(paid to the insurer)
+4% insurance fee
(paid to the Fund)
=Your insurance cost
* Also note that as a super fund, we receive a 15% tax rebate from the government for the insurance premiums we charge our members. We then pass this rebate back to you by reducing the amount of tax we deduct from your account (not all funds return the rebate to their members). It means you’re essentially receiving a 15% discount on the cost of any insurance cover you may have with us.

The new insurance fee will help the Fund recover what it costs to provide our insurance offer to members. (Note that the premium component doesn’t cover these costs, as it’s paid in full to our insurer.) Importantly, as this fee won’t apply to members who don’t have insurance cover through the Fund, it will only be paid by those who access the benefits associated with our insurance offer. It’s a simple, and equitable, ‘user pays’ approach.

Insurance can provide a range of important benefits, including financial protection for you and your family if you’re unable to work due to disablement, or if you pass away, and peace of mind simply from knowing that you and your loved ones are covered.

Having insurance through your super may also provide some additional benefits. For example, the premiums you pay for insurance through your super are likely to be cheaper than if you were to buy insurance privately. And, those premiums are taken straight from your super account, rather than putting a dent in your take-home pay.

Until now, this cost was absorbed by the general administration fees we charged. By charging an insurance fee, we are able to charge members on a user-pays basis – i.e., only members who have insurance cover are paying this fee. The new insurance fee is charged on a cost-recovery basis, so it is designed to only pay for the cost the Fund incurs for the management of insurance arrangements for our members.

The new insurance fee will help us, as a Fund, to cover the cost of providing our members with our award-winning insurance offer. This fee will be deducted from your account each month and will go directly to the Fund. Because this fee is charged on a cost-recovery basis only, the Fund does not make any profits from this fee; rather, we are covering the costs we incur for the management of insurance arrangements. 

The insurance premium is the price our insurer, MetLife, charges for your insurance cover.

The new insurance fee, however, is instead paid to the Fund (not the insurer). It’s intended to help us cover the cost of providing our members with our award-winning insurance offer.

A single amount, made up of both the premium and the insurance fee, is deducted from your account each month.

If you have no insurance cover through Catholic Super as of 1 July 2024, you won’t incur the new insurance fee. 

As long as you have no insurance cover through Catholic Super, you won’t incur the new insurance fee. However, if you decide to take out cover, or if you’re eligible for default cover and that cover activates, on or after 1 July 2024, the insurance fee will apply.

Log into your account online at any time to check whether you have insurance cover through the Fund. A summary of your cover (if you have it) will be displayed on the dashboard once you’re logged in. You can find out more about any cover you have by selecting the ‘Insurance’ tab from the dropdown menu on the right.

Alternatively, you can give our team a call on 1300 655 002, Monday to Friday 8:30 am – 6:00 pm (AET), and we’ll gladly assist.

Insurance cover is not available through a Retirement Income account.

If you have a Transition to Retirement Income account and you also have an accumulation account with us, you may have insurance cover through your accumulation account, depending on your eligibility and whether you have taken out cover.

The type of insurance and the amount of cover that’s right for you depends on a range of factors specific to your circumstances and your stage in life. You’ll find a range of resources on our website to help you work out what your needs may be when it comes to insurance.

You can also get some help from the experts at any time. For a more detailed assessment of your insurance needs – one that takes your personal, financial and family circumstances into account – an Catholic Super Financial Planner can help.

Your circumstances don’t always stay the same, and neither does what you need from your insurance over time. That’s why we’ve designed our insurance cover to be as flexible as possible. You can apply for more cover, make a change to your type of cover, decrease your cover, or cancel your cover, at any stage.

Super funds receive a 15% tax rebate from the government for the insurance premiums we charge our members. Some super funds hold onto any rebate they receive. But we pass this rebate back to the members who have insurance with us, by reducing the amount of tax we deduct from your account. It means you essentially receive a 15% discount on the cost of any insurance cover you may have with us.

Full details of insurance premiums and other insurance costs will be included in the PDS and member guide, Insurance in your super, available on our website from 1 July 2024.

We're here to help

If you have any queries about these changes, or if you’d like to talk to us about how they may impact you and your Catholic Super account, our team can help.

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