The Chair welcomed members to TelstraSuper’s Annual Members’ Meeting and acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and paid her respects to the Elders past and present. She personally acknowledged the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, the land from which she was speaking and any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander members who had joined the meeting.

The Chair provided an overview of the meeting agenda, noting the inclusion of a question-and-answer session.

She advised that:

• any information shared is general in nature and does not consider members’ personal circumstances and objectives. Members should therefore consider obtaining advice before taking action and read any relevant product disclosure guides and Target Market Determinations; and
• that past performance figures are not an indicator of future performance.

The Chair introduced the CEO.

The CEO welcomed all members to the meeting. He also acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and paid his respects to the Elders past and present.

The CEO provided an update on the Fund.  He recognised that the Fund has delivered strong investment returns to members and has continued to enhance and improve investment options and overall member experience despite the challenging environment of high inflation and economic uncertainty.

The CEO reported that the Fund’s most popular diversified MySuper and RetireAccess investment options have achieved strong returns in the financial year to June 30.  These returns were above the Fund’s long-term investment objectives, reflecting both the expertise of the investment team and the benefit of having exposure to a wide range of investable assets across many different industries and countries.

The CEO addressed the following key points in his discussion:

• TelstraSuper manages around $25 billion on behalf of more than 83,000 members from all over Australia.
• As a profit-to-member fund, run only to benefit members, TelstraSuper’s sole purpose is to help its members grow their super balance, draw down on their super in retirement and build a better financial future. Administration fees are now at their lowest in the Fund’s 33-year history, following another reduction on 1 July 2022.
• Administration fees are the cost of managing a member’s super account, compared to investment fees which are the cost of managing a member’s investments. It was highlighted that fees should not be considered in isolation, because by looking at fees and returns separately does not take into consideration that certain investments have higher fees due to the potential for greater returns.It is recommended that members look at the net benefit which is super growth through investment returns minus fees.
• Several initiatives and tools have recently been introduced to support members including:

• An uplift in the online dashboard, continued digitalisation of standard forms and the introduction of the ability to upload documents directly into the online portal
• A suite of calculators including a Retirement Drawdown Calculator and Investment Choice Calculator
• Extending the self-managed Direct Access to retiree members
• Introduction of a new High Growth investment option
• Ongoing education initiatives, having held more than 100 webinars across 32 unique topics
• Introduced a new Guidance Specialist team to provide members with in-depth support.

• The launch of TelstraSuper’s first Reconciliation Action Plan formalised its commitment to supporting reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• TelstraSuper’s in-house administration service supports a strong and unique connection with its members through timely and relevant interactions.
• There has been a high level of member engagement and satisfaction as revealed in the Fund’s Annual Member Outcome Assessment in March 2023.
• Net Promoter Score, used as an independent measure of how likely a member is to proactively recommend TelstraSuper, is also consistently above industry average.
• TelstraSuper has been the receipt of several industry awards, the most recent being named 2024 SuperRatings Career Fund of the Year, and for the second year in a row as the Pension Fund of the Year in the Chant West Awards, following on from receiving the 2023 SuperRatings Pension of the Year award.  TelstraSuper has also maintained, for the 19th straight year, the top Platinum rating from SuperRatings. This rating demonstrates that the Fund is performing well across the key assessment criteria including investments, fees and charges, insurance, member servicing, governance and administration.
• TelstraSuper has maintained its ESG Leader Super Fund rating from Rainmaker for 2023.  The ESG leader rating is granted to super funds that Rainmaker considers are implementing environmental, social and governance principles to a high level, while having a track record of strong investment performance. The Fund’s business operations have maintained a net zero status for the period, achieved through careful management of its carbon footprint and the use of carbon offsets. 
• A key project for the Fund has been its retirement strategy, where it continues to be an industry leader. The recent release of a lifetime pension product has further enhanced the Fund’s retirement product offering to members. The innovative nature of this product means that retired members can have a high degree of flexibility around their income payments with the built-in protection to retain some access to capital, addressing a common concern for many members interested these types of products. For more information about this product visit the Fund’s website.
• This year marked the 21st of TelstraSuper Financial Planning, established in 2002.  It has been a pioneer in the sector offering comprehensive financial advice to members at extremely competitive prices compared to peers.  TelstraSuper Financial Planning’s service offering has broadened over the years to include estate planning, retirement income solutions, investments outside of super, and most recently aged care funding advice, in addition to offering member advice on individual topics.
• Cyber security remains a top priority for TelstraSuper. The Fund regularly reviews its cyber security arrangements to ensure it has the right controls in place to help protect member information.  Several new measures have been introduced which includes ensuring those members with simple passwords update them for better protection, educating members on how to recognise a scam, and applying additional identification measures when members call the Fund or request the release of payments or rollovers.  The increasing instances of identity theft and other scams over the last year is a concern and has seen extra checks put in place to further protect members’ information, with additional support systems enhancements to be introduced shortly, to automate several processes and further enhance security controls.
• Super funds are unable to make instant payments, unlike banks, due to security checks and the use of unit prices to determine superannuation balances. A unit price is the value of one unit of an investment option, and this changes daily relative to movements in investment markets, and when used to calculate a benefit payment is only available the following business day.  Under the Fund’s existing service standard, the aim is to make a benefit payment within 4 days of an application being submitted, subject to there being no security concerns or additional information requested, where the Fund will contact the member.

The CEO thanked all Fund members and employer partners for their continued support and for choosing TelstraSuper for their super journey.

The CEO introduced the CIO. 

The Chair opened the meeting to questions from Members.  

She advised that answers to all questions, including those not able to be addressed during the meeting, will be made available on the Fund’s website within 30 days. 

Topic 1. Investments and Markets  

Question: Please outline TelstraSuper’s preparedness for the possibility of a global recession in 2024. 
Graeme Miller (answered in the meeting presentation)  

• No one can predict with certainty if there will be global recession, or its severity.  
• TelstraSuper believes that the combination of high interest rates and geopolitical tensions across the world are likely to slow down economic growth and dent investor confidence in the near term, but it cannot be said if this will lead to a recession.
• The Fund’s portfolio is currently somewhat cautiously positioned with higher than usual exposures to fixed interest and foreign currency and lower than usual exposures to Australian shares.   If there was a recession, it is expected that this positioning will provide some protection, although it would probably be impossible to altogether avoid negative returns in this situation. 

Question: Outlook for markets and which investment options are most at risk in short, medium and long term. What is TelstraSuper doing to manage risks? E.g. If the AUD is declining and some of investments are in foreign shares. 
Graeme Miller (answered in meeting presentation) 

• It is always difficult to make predictions about how economies and financial markets will perform.
• The Fund is carefully monitoring interest rates and geopolitical events.
• High inflation combined with high interest rates will continue to put pressure on households and businesses and may slow down economic activity.     
• Considering this overall outlook, the Fund’s portfolio is currently somewhat cautiously positioned.   
• In our diversified investment options, the Fund’s exposure to Australian shares is slightly lower than our long-term targets, while we have increased targeted holdings of diversified fixed interest to above our long-term targets.   
• The Fund is also holding a higher than usual exposure to the Japanese Yen, which is believed will act as a shock absorber in times of market weakness. 
• TelstraSuper’s positioning is an appropriate strategy for the current environment, but as always, the Fund’s team of investment professionals will continue to actively manage all investment portfolios, remaining alert to both opportunities and risks as they emerge. 

Question: Does TelstraSuper support the mining industry and aligned businesses. Does it support investment in these industries? What is the current policy? 
Graeme Miller (answered in the meeting presentation) 

• TelstraSuper does invest in mining and energy companies because of the perceived value in exposure to energy and resource companies, particularly those that have plans to transition to net zero, while delivering future facing materials that enable transition.  
• It is important to the Fund to have a well-diversified investment strategy that invests in all major parts of the economy.  
• Mining will be required in the future to produce the minerals needed to build renewable energy assets such solar and wind farms, and to produce batteries for electric vehicles.    
• The Fund’s investments in major mining and energy companies are made subject to our Sustainable Investment Policy, and our Climate Change Action Plan, both of which can also be found on the 

  website. 

Additional comment added after the meeting: It should be noted that in accordance with our Sustainable Investment Policy, TelstraSuper excludes investments in primary-focus thermal coal producers, where the majority of company or group earnings are derived from thermal coal production. 

Question: What is the true return performance of the International Shares fund - minus admin and usual member fees. Please also include management fees build into the unit costs as these also deteriorate returns.  
Chris Davies (answered in meeting questions) 

• For accumulation members our International Shares option returned 18.84% for the financial year to 30 June 23.  For account-based pension members, this return was 20.74%.    

• These investment returns are net of all investment fees and transaction costs.  
• Like other super funds, TelstraSuper also charges an administration fee. For our members, it is currently $1 per week plus 0.17% of the value of a member’s account balance. There is an upper limit on administration fee for large account balances.  
• Administration fees are set to cover the cost of administration and operation of the Fund.   
• Details on how fees are calculated can be found by searching for the guide; Additional Information About Your Super, on the website.  

Question: This is my first members’ meeting; I have only become an active super contributor in the last 3 years.  I am keen to hear about where the TelstraSuper’s money is invested - shares/something else?   
Graeme Miller (answered in meeting questions) 

• TelstraSuper invests in a range of different assets including Australian and international shares, property, bonds, cash, infrastructure, private companies, and other assets. 
• The Investment Guide, available on the website, provides information on the asset allocations for each of our investment options.  A full recent list of investment holdings by each investment option is also available by clicking on the relevant link on the page.
• To discuss the various investment options available, or simple advice about where a member can invest, members are invited to contact the Fund.  

Question: What steps have you taken to mitigate the impact of recent interest rate rises on fixed interest holdings? 
Graeme Miller – (answered in meeting questions) 

• For several years leading to the COVID pandemic, TelstraSuper held lower allocations to fixed interest investments than its long-term targets. This is because it was felt that with interest rates at multi-decade low, fixed interest securities did not represent good value.  When interest rates started to rise in the aftermath of COVID, members in our diversified options were protected to some extent from these rises, because we were holding less fixed interest than our usual targets. 
• Recently the Fund has increased its exposure to fixed interest, now above the long-term targets for the first time in a long while. 
• The Fund’s fixed interest portfolios are well diversified, with investments in long duration securities, the prices of which are sensitive to interest rate movements, but also the Fund has exposure to shorter duration securities which are not as interest rate sensitive.   
• The diversified combination of securities in the portfolio helps to provide protection against the effects of higher rates. 
• The Fund also uses active management by engaging a team of professional fund managers who aim to outperform market indices over time.   
• These fund managers have a good track record of adding value over time and positioning the portfolios to benefit from their assessments of the outlook for interest rates and economic activity. 

Question: Can I move my super investment to gold? 
Graeme Miller (answered in meeting questions) 

• This is available to members from Direct Access because of the recent expansion of exchange traded funds available on the Direct Access platform to include a specialist fund that provides exposure to the gold price.  
• Additional information about TelstraSuper’s self-managed investment option; Direct Access is available on the website. 
• It is recommended the member consider seeking financial advice before making changes of this nature to their investment option.  

Question: Can you please explain why the property option has traded negative recently? 
Graeme Miller (answered in meeting questions) 

• There are two sources of returns in the property portfolio; rental returns from tenants which remain relatively stable because of long-term contracts, and changes in property values.   
• The reasons for TelstraSuper’s Property investment option delivering negative returns in recent times is caused by:  
  • Changes in working patterns (more work from home) and shopping habits (more online shopping), especially in the aftermath of COVID, have reduced demand for office buildings and retail shops. This reduced demand has led to falls in the value of both the office and retail property sectors over recent years. 
  • Higher interest rates have reduced returns from property investments because they have had to pay higher interest rates on their borrowings, and higher interest rates have also reduced the amount that prospective purchasers of properties have been prepared to pay. 
• Not all types of property have been impacted in the same way. The warehouse/distribution centre sector is an example of the property sector that has performed relatively well in recent times as it has benefited from an increase in demand due to the rise of online shopping. 
• TelstraSuper’s property option has had a history of stable returns, and this is the first time we have seen negative returns in many years.  

Topic 2: Investment of non-super monies 

Question:  With the expected increase in tax on Super funds in excess of $3m, could TelstraSuper offer options to manage funds outside of Super that members may withdraw to avoid the 30% taxation?  The options could mirror those offered within super thereby requiring no additional investment work by TelstraSuper, only additional admin systems.  The Future Fund manages several separate funds in this way. 

Question: With the impending change in superannuation rules and the proposed $3m unindexed cap on super from 2025, some members may need to take funds out of super.  Could TelstraSuper offer funds management options outside of super? Options could mirror those within TelstraSuper thereby minimising admin and other costs. 

Anne-Marie O’Loghlin (answered in meeting questions) 

• It should be noted that The Future Fund is not a superannuation fund.  
• Managing non-super money is a very different process and legal environment from that of a superannuation investment, including the need for different regulatory licences. For this reason, TelstraSuper is unable to provide this service to members. 
• TelstraSuper Financial Planning does have selected investment vehicles available for use by its clients for non-super investment funds. 
• Members who wish to seek advice on non-super investments can contact TelstraSuper Financial Planning through the contact centre. 

Topic 3: Fees 

What exactly are the fees charged to accounts? The material on the website indicates just under 1% of the balance, but many accounts were seemingly charged over 1.1% last year. How does that happen? And how do the fees compare with other major funds? 

Chris Davies (answered in meeting presentation) 

• Fees are set out on each member’s annual statement and relevant TelstraSuper product disclosure statement (PDS).  The information disclosed follows detailed legal requirements for describing fees.  
• Administration fees are set to cover the cost of administering and operating the Fund.    
• TelstraSuper’s administration fee is currently $1 per week, plus 0.17% of the value of a members’ account balance. There is an upper limit on administration fee for large account balances. 
• Investment fees are the cost of managing a member’s investments, and are dependent upon which investment option/s a member is invested in.  
• For example, for the High Growth option this is 0.78% per annum or for the Balanced option it’s 0.74% per annum.  
• Transaction costs also vary depending on where your super is invested and range from 0% to 0.09%.  
• Investment returns are reported after investment and transaction fees have been deducted. 
• Total fees and costs for a member with $50,000 invested in the MySuper Growth option would be $567 per annum. 

• Example of annual fees and costs for TelstraSuper’s MySuper Lifecycle (pg6) Additional Information About Your Super, on the website
  MySuper Growth* fees for 12 months with a $50,000 investment: 
  $52     Admin fee ($1 per week)   
  $85     Plus admin costs (0.17%) 
  $385   Plus investment fees and costs (0.77% per annum)  
  $45     Plus transaction costs (0.09%)  
  $567   Equals cost of product: $567 per annum. 
  (*used as an example because it has the highest investment fees and costs) 
• A member in the Growth option with $50,000 invested for the full financial year would have received 18.84% or $9,420 (this is after investment fees and costs and transaction fees) minus the admin fee of $137.00 – net $9,283.
• A full explanation of TelstraSuper fees, including a list of what fees are charged for which investment option is available by searching for the guide; Additional Information About Your Super, on the website. 

 Topic 4: Statements 

Question: Could TelstraSuper return to quarterly statements rather than annually and reduce the time taken to issue statements? 

Question: I am advised that TelstraSuper is now going to annual statements. This does not allow members to see how their portfolios are performing until it is too late. There does not appear to be any proactive advice to members suggesting changes to portfolios that may be potentially impacted due to some emerging event(s) and recommendations for change to mitigate against that event - member are left to make their own assessments on the impact of any event(s) unless they want to pay a $500 fee. 

Chris Davies (answered in meeting questions) 

• Formal statements can take time to create due to the extensive data contained in them, so there is often a difference in the super balance on statement and the actual balance at the time the statement is received.   
• Members can check their current super balance online 24/7, so it was felt that reducing the frequency of formal super statements to once a year was appropriate.  
• Producing statements annually also reduces costs and is more environmentally friendly if members were receiving paper statements.  
• Members can also get phone-based advice on simple questions about their super account, including which investment option will best suit them, at no additional cost by contacting the Fund. 
• For more detailed investment strategy review, TelstraSuper Financial Planning offers personal financial advice at an additional cost. Providing this level of detailed advice as part of Fund membership would be costly for members, so it is offered to members on a user pays basis.  
• TelstraSuper also offers a range of resources for members to make their own investment decisions, including market updates, educational articles and webinars, available on the Fund website. 
• Members are reminded that super is a long-term investment so you should consider any changes to your long-term strategy carefully.  

Topic 5: Security 

Question: What security upgrades are being considered in the future for withdrawals such as Multi Factor Authentication and the prevention of Phone porting? 
Chris Davies (answered in meeting questions) 

• Multi-factor authentication for higher-risk transactions such as withdrawals has been in place for a while.  
• In addition to this, prior to releasing payments, identity and bank account detail validation and matching functionality has been recently introduced to ensure members’ bank account details match with the Fund’s records.  
• When it comes to minimising the risk of phone number porting, TelstraSuper encourages members to enable multi-factor authentication with their relevant phone service provider to ensure enhanced security on their phone account. 
• TelstraSuper treats updating member contact details as a higher-risk transaction, this means that a multi-factor authentication request is triggered when a member wishes to update their contact details for example, followed with notification to the member confirming the change of details. 

Topic 6: Referendum  

Question: Did TelstraSuper support the Yes campaign in the current referendum? 
Question: How much did the fund contribute to the YES campaign and where did those funds come from if any? 
Anne-Marie O’Loghlin (answered in meeting and meeting questions) 

• TelstraSuper provided a statement of support, in line with its own Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which can be viewed on the website. 
• TelstraSuper did not contribute financially to the campaign. 

Topic 7: Fund strategy and services

Question: Why doesn't Telstra deal with Centrelink when planning retirement.  Other Finances does.  
Chris Davies (answered in meeting presentations) 

• TelstraSuper Financial Planning offers a Retirement Essentials service that can provide assistance to help with a member’s application process with Centrelink. This help will assist the member to fill out the form correctly and gain a clear understanding of Centrelink requirements. The service starts from $296 depending on the complexity of the application. 
• TelstraSuper Financial Planning can also help a member with understanding age pension entitlements and the effect different actions may have on these entitlements.   
• Members can also use the handy online website tools and calculators. If a member needs help in this area, please get in touch. 

Question: Could you outline the extent to which the fund has been growing? 
Chris Davies (answered in meeting questions)  

• Long term sustainable growth is key part of the Fund’s strategy. 
• The Fund is in a net member growth position meaning more members are joining the Fund than leaving. 
• The number of Fund members has increased from around 84,000 to about 85,000 over the last financial year, and funds under management have increased from $23b to $25b over the same period.   

Question: Please provide details of Aggregate related party payments: $8,255,044, as reported in the Notice of Meeting correspondence of 6 October 2023 
Anne-Marie O’Loghlin (answered in meeting questions) 

• Aggregate related party payments are payments made to related entities, which includes the Fund’s use of Telstra to provide a range of telephone and IT services.  
• Other related party payments include the service fees paid to TelstraSuper Financial Planning to provide members with simple advice, and fees paid to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia for membership and staff training because one of TelstraSuper’s directors is on the Board of this association.  
• The full list of related party payments, including the amounts paid and service provided, is available on the TelstraSuper website on our Annual Member Meeting page. Related party information is also disclosed in the Financial Statements. 

Question: Why doesn't TelstraSuper allow non-lapsing binding death benefit nomination? As members age and suffer from illness like dementia etc, it may not be possible for a member to renew the binding death benefit nomination every 3 years. UniSuper offers its members non-lapsing binding death benefit nomination. 
Chris Davies (answered in meeting questions) 

• The CEO noted that he personally approves all death benefit payments and he has seen many different situations over the years, and each situation varies incredibly. 
• TelstraSuper has looked into this issue and on balance, the belief is that lapsing binding death benefit nominations deliver the best outcome for members. 
• Over the years, the Fund has seen many situations where death benefit nominations are out of date, people’s situations change, and unfortunately non-lapsing binding nominations can produce the wrong outcome.  
• TelstraSuper believes that the best approach for members is to maintain the existing regular three-year update program where we communicate to members who have death benefit nominations when their nominations need to be updated. 

Why has my Balanced Super fund performed so poorly over the past two years? During the COVID years it performed incredibly well.  

•  A $50,000 accumulation account in the Balanced option on 1 July 2021 will have grown to around $53,800 by 30 June 2023, so it is surprising to hear that a member says that their Balanced option has performed poorly.    
• TelstraSuper’s Balanced fund performance has been very competitive over this period and was higher than most other major super funds, as surveyed by the ratings agency SuperRatings. The TelstraSuper Balanced fund ranked in the top 10 super funds by SuperRatings for the three-year period to 30 September 2023.
• Outstanding performance was delivered by the Fund in the year to 30 June 2021, the best in TelstraSuper’s history.  This was the direct result of the economy re-opening after COVID and the government stimulus activities.  It was an exceptional year, and it is not expected that this level of performance can be achieved again under normal market conditions, which if used as a comparative to current performance, may explain your question.  

We used to get a response of "Your investment choice has been submitted" "Your TelstraSuper reference number is 123456 (6-digit number with a time stamp). This is an instant reference number for customers to refer to without waiting 1-2 days (on PH) to get a confirmation email. The lack of instant reference number online is a fail / damage to customer service. 

•  TelstraSuper welcomes and values all member feedback.  The reference number for customers has been removed due to a system compatibility issue, which meant that it was not working as intended. 
• A new transaction ID is in development to replace the reference number and will overtime be rolled out to all key functions. In the meantime, members should receive a message on the screen confirming an investment switch, in addition to a confirmation email and SuperOnline message when the switch is processed, which is usually the following business day. 

Can you advise the funds outlook for interest rates and inflation? Does the fund believe that a 2 to 3% inflation target is either achievable or appropriate?  

• It is difficult to be definitive about the outlook for interest rates and inflation because these depend on so many different variables. 
• TelstraSuper’s view is that inflation is likely to remain elevated in the medium term, and it will still be some time before inflation decreases to the 2-3% target range set by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). 
• TelstraSuper believes that central banks, such as the RBA and the US Federal Reserve, will remain focussed on bringing down inflation and will therefore be cautious about reversing the current increasing interest rate cycle. Even, if interest rates have already peaked, TelstraSuper believes that central banks will keep rates high until inflation has fallen within or close to target levels.
• TelstraSuper believes that a 2-3% inflation target is both appropriate and achievable, although as noted above, it is anticipated it will be some time before inflation recedes to this level. 

Why are the returns on the cash fund less than what I can obtain outside Super as a retail investor?  I would have thought that a big investor like TelstraSuper would be able to get better interest rates than what I can obtain as a retail investor? 

•  When comparing cash returns between bank deposits and TelstraSuper’s Cash investment option, it is important to consider the following:
  • For accumulation members, the returns on TelstraSuper’s Cash investment option are quoted net of the 15% tax that applies to superannuation fund investment earnings. (This does not apply to the RetireAccess Cash investment option, because investment earnings for RetireAccess members are tax free). Banks quote their cash rates before tax, and interest earned is then taxed at the individual’s marginal tax rate, which is often higher than 15%. 
  • It is important not to confuse the interest rates available on bank deposits going forward, with the annual rate of return earned looking backwards over the last 12 months. When TelstraSuper quotes its annual returns for its cash investment option, it does so for the previous 12-month period. On the other hand, bank deposit rates are quoted on a going forward basis. Interest rates having risen over the last year, it is not surprising that the looking forward rate is higher than the looking back rate. For example, in TelstraSuper’s case, the looking back return for the RetireAccess Cash investment option for the year to 31 October 2023 was 4.05%. On the other hand, the current looking forward return is 4.75% per annum.
  • Banks may also choose to offer higher rates to retail investors than institutional investors, because of differences in the capital requirements and/or to build customer loyalty by cross-selling other products to their customers. It is important to note that sometimes higher bank rates come with additional conditions attached (e.g., restrictions on withdrawals or minimum investment terms).
• TelstraSuper’s Cash investment returns have been consistently higher than the super fund industry median, as surveyed by the SuperRatings SR50 Survey. For example, in periods to 31 October 2023, TelstraSuper’s Cash option returns were above the median over all periods measured all the way up to periods of 10 years for both Accumulation and RetireAccess members. 

Regarding a Direct Access investment i.e. holding direct shares in listed ASX stock/s, who, on behalf of the TelstraSuper votes on Board Resolutions at annual AGM/s for the stock/s held through Direct Access? 

• Members who choose to invest through the Fund’s  Direct Access platform get access to certain shareholder rights. This includes the ability to vote on shareholder resolutions at company AGMs, where possible. Access to corporate actions generally is at the Fund’s discretion. Please see the Direct Access terms and conditions for more details.

Does TelstraSuper benchmark returns under MySuper and change investment weighting to align with other funds and benchmarking, e.g. the amount listed versus private investment or infra investment? 

•  TelstraSuper, when setting investment strategies for its investment options, considers factors such as investment objectives, market conditions, economic outlook, fund demographics, risk management, diversification, liquidity requirements and industry practice.  The Fund also regularly benchmarks its investment returns to those of other major super funds with the aim to deliver competitive returns over the long-term.   
• The returns of the Diversified investment options have generally been above the relevant survey medians over many different time periods which is very pleasing for members.  (source: SuperRatings SR50 Fund Crediting Rate Survey Oct 2023) 

Does the fund believe employer compulsory super should be higher? 

•  TelstraSuper supports the rise to 12% super by 2025 as a critical step to helping Australians achieve a dignified retirement.