Written by:

Future Group

15 December 2023

Key points 

• Verve is now owned 100% by Future Group.

• Verve members have already received an instant fee reduction- dropped from 0.725% p.a to 0.541% p.a. 

• Future Group has been the investment manager for Verve Super since 2018 and previously owned a 20% share in Verve Super.

• Verve will continue to be led by women and will maintain a focus on serving women+ as a wholly owned subsidiary of Future Group

• Verve acquisition leads to a strong gender lens investing mandate to deliver enhanced services for all Future Group members.

Future Group is forging ahead with its growth strategy by announcing its second inorganic expansion for 2023. One month after announcing the acquisition of Guild Super, Future Group has successfully acquired Verve Super.

With increasing pressure on fund consolidation in the industry, the strategic move ensures Verve Super can continue to deliver its product offering under the Future Group’s structure.

The acquisition marks a significant milestone for Verve Super and Future Group. Verve Super has a long-standing relationship with Future Group’s investment arm - Future Super Investment Services — which has served as its investment manager since Verve’s inception in 2018. Future Group previously owned 20% of Verve Super.

Future Group CEO and Founder; Simon Sheikh said “The acquisition is a full circle moment for both funds. Verve founders Christina Hobbs and Alex Andrews; started at Future Super, and launched Verve in 2018 with a focus on gender lens investing and providing enhanced services for women.”

“Both Verve and Future Group share a commitment to ethical investing, with both the Verve product and the Future Super product strictly adhering to a principle of not investing in fossil fuel companies. This alignment makes Verve Super’s integration into Future Group a natural fit, further reinforcing both funds' dedication to benefiting members' best interests while investing for a sustainable and equitable future”.

Future Group’s acquisition of smartMonday from global retirement business Aon in 2021 marked the beginning of its inorganic growth strategy. The acquisition of Verve Super, along with last month’s Guild Super news, has solidified Future Group’s position as a leader in the superannuation industry. Future Group is one of the top 15 largest superannuation groups by number of members served.

Verve Founder, Christina Hobbs, said: “The transition will bring many benefits for our predominantly female membership, including the ability to leverage Future Group's ethical investment expertise to increase our focus on strong gender lens investing and to deliver enhanced services for women. "At a time of increasing consolidation within the superannuation industry, we're delighted to have taken this strategic move to ensure the long-term success of Australia's first superannuation offering to be designed for women continues within the Future Group structure.”

Sheikh continues: “Verve members have already benefited from an instant fee reduction as part of the partnership with Future Group. Members fees have dropped from 0.725% p.a to 0.541% p.a. Verve and Future Group have a common objective of closing the super gap for women and a key part of that is to make its financial products a competitive option for people to join. 

Founded in 2018 by Christina Hobbs, Alex Andrews, and Zoe Lamont, Verve Super is Australia's first superannuation product created by women, for women, with the objective of addressing the 35% gender gap in retirement savings through ethical superannuation investments. Verve Super supports over 6,900 members and manages over $271m in funds. Additionally, it offers the innovative investing app, Verve Money.

ETSL is the trustee for all of Future Group’s products and services, including Future Super Fund, smartMonday, Guild Super and Verve Super.

-ENDS-

About:

Future Group

Future Group is a collective of super funds and financial services dedicated to a single cause: to lead the movement to use the power of money to invest, advocate and campaign for a future worth retiring into. People use Future Group’s products and services to use the power of capital to build the future they want to see. Following the transaction the group will have over five superannuation brands: Future Super, smartMonday, Guild Super Services, Child Care Super and Verve Super. 

Verve Super

Verve dedicates 100% of its resources and passion to building women’s wealth and financial power everywhere. Verve began its mission with Verve Super, Australia’s first ethical superannuation offering tailored for women+ and led by women, and continued their support of women’s wealth building with the launch of Verve Money, an ethical investing app earlier this year. 

Editors notes

•  Future Group has $13.4 billion in funds under management and advice, supporting over 383,000 members.