Newsroom Hostplus

Hospitality and tourism industry fund Hostplus’s predominantly young member base gives it an advantage over other funds in weathering market falls, CIO Sam Sicilia says.

Industry super fund Hostplus has come out on top in this year’s Rainmaker Information SelectingSuper Awards.

Athena Home Loans, a fintech start-up founded by two ex-National Australia Bank bankers has not even launched its assault on the local property lending market, but that hasn't stopped it attracting the support of some of the most respected investors in the local VC and superannuation sector, closing a $25 million Series B funding round as it prepares to take on the big banks.

A $37 billion industry superannuation fund reclaimed its position as fund of the year at the annual Rainmaker SelectingSuper Awards in Melbourne this morning.

In July, Tan’s innovation was awarded with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s Hostplus Hospitality Scholarship, which next year will see her visit three top-tier overseas restaurants in a month to seek inspiration in some of the world’s best kitchens.

Industry super fund Hostplus has cemented its surprising status as the most influential figure in the Australian tech venture capital scene, increasing its assets targeted at future innovation to over $1 billion and calling for more of its institutional peers to embrace risk and fund the future of the country's economy.

In a move that will save super fund members hundreds of dollars a year in fees, 19 industry funds have agreed to co-operate and auto-consolidate members' accounts that are inactive with less than $6000 in them.

The CSIRO's innovation fund Main Sequences Ventures has raised an additional $132 million for its first fund, bringing on board superannuation fund Hostplus.

Paul Watson from Hostplus told A Current Affair that industry funds like his have outperformed the big players — the retail funds — mainly because, “we don’t exist for a profit margin or profit motive for shareholders."

While some investors might be tempted by low-cost index funds, the results of top superannuation fund performer Hostplus show why it pays to invest across a broader range of assets.

A stellar performance by the ­nation’s top super funds has seen them notch up double-digit returns in the year to June 30, smashing the median return of 9.2 per cent.

Industry super fund Hostplus is taking a contrarian view on the market as it celebrates being named Australia’s best-performing super fund for the second year running.

Top of the table for the 2017-18 financial year is Hostplus, the industry super fund pitched at employees in the hospitality, tourism and sports sectors.

Hostplus chief executive David Elia sees "no end in sight" for the outsized returns industry super funds will be able to deliver from unlisted and alternative assets.

Hostplus, with its rapidly expanding membership base, pulled clear of the pack to deliver 12.5 per cent for the year ended June 30, 2018.

The one-million member Hostplus industry fund has produced the best return of all "MySuper" balanced investment options for the last financial year, of 12.5 per cent.

“Hostplus does support the proposal with regard to protecting your super package, which is ultimately about protecting the savings of members and ensuring that they’re not eroded by fees and insurance premiums."

Hostplus chief executive David Elia said the code would help his fund raise the bar. “We applaud ACSI for taking the lead in hardwiring stewardship into Australian asset owners’ policies, practices and disclosures,” Elia said.

Sam Sicilia, chief investment officer at Hostplus, the top performing $33 billion hospitality industry fund, said the country should expect to see driverless cars on the roads starting from about 2021.

Net inflows from self-managed super funds to Hostplus surged to nearly $50 million in the December quarter and topped $138 million in the year to 31 March, putting the hospitality industry fund at the head of a gear shift in super.

Hostplus CEO David Elia said his fund was recovering more than $2 million a month in unpaid contributions from employers. In the last quarter of 2017, the fund recovered contributions from more than 3,000 employers.

The CEO of Hostplus, David Elia, said he was in the process of recovering more than $2-million a month in unpaid contributions. “There are some employers out there who simply won’t make, or don’t make, contributions on behalf of their staff.”