Future Group expands super fund operations

Future Group is moving the Guild Retirement Fund into its Smart Future Trust on 12 September, a step aimed at increasing scale across the company’s superannuation operations.

Transfer details and brand continuity

The successor fund transfer (SFT) will keep the GuildSuper and Child Care Super brands active, preserving their focus on pharmacy‑related and early‑learning sectors. Members of those funds will be shifted onto a shared operating platform while the brands, member relationships and industry focus remain unchanged.

The firm says the move is intended to generate operational efficiencies without altering the member experience. It now supports more than 400,000 members and manages roughly $14 billion in superannuation assets across five brands.

Fee adjustments and investment options

Effective 12 September, the annual dollar‑based administration fee will drop from $72.80 to $67.60, and the 0.02 percent administration cost taken from fund reserves will be eliminated. At the same time, the percentage‑based fee taken from member accounts will rise from 0.15 percent to 0.16 percent per year.

The cap on administration fees will rise from $800 to $1,000 annually, applying only to the percentage‑based charge. The net effect will differ according to each member’s balance and chosen investment option.

Members of GuildSuper and Child Care Super will also receive a revised MySuper LifeStage investment approach, offering four age‑based options, together with an updated Choice investment menu.

Chief executive Simon Sheikh said that scaling up allows the group to invest more in members while cutting duplication across the business. “As we grow, we can use that scale to reduce duplication, increase our negotiating power with service providers and continue investing in services and investment capabilities for members,” he explained.

He added that the latest transfer builds on the previous SFT that moved the Future Super Fund into the Smart Future Trust in May 2025. “This is another important step toward a simpler and more scalable structure across Future Group,” Sheikh noted.

Future Group’s larger asset base could enable negotiations for lower fees with custodians and platform providers. Such savings might offset the modest rise in percentage‑based fees for some participants. The actual benefit will depend on how quickly the firm can translate the larger asset base into cost reductions, and whether those reductions are passed on uniformly across all member tiers.

Overall, the transition aims to align the guild‑focused funds with the broader infrastructure of the Smart Future Trust. The result is a unified operational backbone while retaining the niche market positioning that distinguishes GuildSuper and Child Care Super.

Stakeholders will watch the implementation closely.