In this Interview Transcript with Michael Dundon CEO of ESS Super, he discusses his views on the industry as a whole and the possible impact of the Cooper and Henry Review. He also talks about how merging funds can maximise member resilience throughout a merger process. Michael Dundon is speaking at Finance IQ's Merger & Acquisitions Super Funds conference. For more information about this event, please visit www.superfundma.com.au or call 02 9229 1000. Or you can email enquire@iqpc.com.au For more information about

1. Interiew Transcript with Michael Dundon, Chief Executive Officer of
ESS Super
Mergers & Acquisitions for SuperFunds 2011
www.SuperfundMA.com.au
20 - 21 July, 2011, Amora Hotel Jamison, Sydney, New South Wales
Finance IQ:
How do you view the current superannuation industry and the impact of the Cooper and
Henry review?
Michael Dundon
I think it’s a very interesting period right now. Although we’re waiting for legislative
change to take effect, I think we’ve actually seen considerable change in the industry in
the last 18 months to 2 years with a number of funds considering mergers and some
already have taken place and others are scheduled, as well as some very interesting
low product offerings emerging with considerable offers that are much more appealing
to the membership in terms of fees and charges.
Finance IQ:
What do you see as most important criteria for funds to finance suitable merger partner,
after all this seems to be the route that everyone else is going?
Michael Dundon
I think it very much depends upon the needs and the funds that is merging, but clearly,
a lot of them are doing it for reasons of growth and sustainability, so looking for a
partner fund that has a good growth outlooks that may have young membership, good
distribution in place and an ongoing inflow of both members and contributions would be
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2. important, but probably, the major thing for assessing a partner would be the quality of
the culture itself of the organisation, so does its values and objectives line up with those
that are considering to merge with them.
Finance IQ:
How can merging funds maximise member responsiveness and resilience throughout a
merger process? And how can continuity of member services be maintained whilst
merging?
Michael Dundon
I think there is a risk from many funds that the process of merging becomes a major
distraction in the organisation as it ties up a lot of valuable management time, so it’s
very important to appropriately resource your merger process and your merger
integration so that the business as usual can continue on and it’s also very important to
quickly rationalise product offerings, processes, and systems so that there is minimal
disturbance to the membership.
Finance IQ:
How do you see the future of superannuation industry in Australia shaping up?
Michael Dundon
Well, certainly, I think they’re going to be rationalisation of the number of participants.
That is the number of funds in the industry over the next few years, but obviously, the
growth outlook through is every strong in terms of contribution growth for funds, but we
will see very much of a transition towards low-cost offerings where most funds will have
to be very, very competitive to offer my Super product or to offer something that mimics
some my Super product, so we’ll continue to see significant rationalisation of industry
participants and a very big train towards perhaps the strength of retail funds and having
a low cost offering and being able to wrap a range of services and products around that
membership engagement together with industry funds and our smaller participants
perhaps having to rely upon the relationship with the membership and the distribution
that they have.
Michael Dundon Chief Executive Officer, ESS Super will be presenting at the M&A
Superfunds 2011. For more information about this event, please visit
www.SuperfundMA.com.au or email at enquire@iqpc.com.au.
Don’t forget you can also add us on Twitter @iqpc_australia.
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