The Invercargill-based meat processing firm, Alliance Group, will roll its almost $60 million staff super scheme into a Mercer master trust, according to industry sources.
It is understood Mercer, which replaced Forsyth Barr as the Alliance scheme investment adviser in the last year or so, battled it out with AMP for the gig.
The 2014 Alliance super fund accounts report scheme funds under management of about $59 million, with AMP Capital running about $15 million in cash and local fixed income and Harbour Asset Management responsible for $8 million of NZ equities.
As well, Alliance includes New Zealand Assets Management, ANZ, Fisher Funds, Mercer and Ashmore as underlying managers in various asset classes.
Alliance administers the scheme (a role that Mercer will take over) with AMP named as insurer and Crowe Howarth as auditor in the 2014 accounts.
The Alliance outsourcing arrangement follows on the back of a couple of similar deals – including the recent decision by Ravensdown to shift its super and KiwiSaver funds to AMP – sparked by the coming Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) regime.
The FMC places hefty new responsibilities on employer-based super funds, which is prompting many to question their future under the new regime.
Currently, about 150 employer superannuation schemes are registered with the Financial Markets Authority but that number is expected to reduce drastically as the two-year FMC transition period – due to expire in December 2016 – draws closer.