Page 20 - Print 21 Magazine Jan-Feb 2019
P. 20

Finance
whether they need to take further action. Typically people approaching retirement will want to be thinking about salary sacrificing if they can, given that compulsory super has only been part of the working life for less than 25 years. Those at the beginning of their working life should be in a good position by the time they come to retire with 40 years or more of super payments.
Russell is proud of the mental wellness programme, which comes as part of industry and society accepting that mental health is not something to be brushed under the carpet and kept hidden, but is best dealt with in an open and non-judgemental way. Media Super is seeing an increasing number of claims through the Fund’s total and permanent disability
(TPD) insurance based on mental health issues, and in fact it is now
the number one reason people are claiming. “We want to be part of the solution that helps people before they get to that point and enables them to get help early, so they have a better chance of recovery and getting back to productive work,” says Russell.
Well balanced
The Media Super Board comprises 11 people: three from the PIAA, three from the AMWU, two from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one from Nine (formerly Fairfax), one from Live Performance Australia, and one independent. Russell reports to the Board, and his senior management team consists
of himself, a chief operating officer, a general manager of investments, a general manager of engagement, and an HR manager.
“Our default MySuper product, the Balanced Option, has outperformed most retail funds used by major print employers for the last five years at least. Media Super’s My Super Balanced Option was ranked number one over the 12 months to November 30.”
– Graeme Russell, CEO, Media Super
The $5.5bn fund has 80,000 members, and 13,000 employers making contributions, with the print industry the biggest sector; however, not everyone in print is a member, in fact far from it. A number of larger printing companies still use bank- owned or AMP corporate funds,
20 Print21 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
almost all of which are delivering lower returns than Media Super.
Media Super offices are located in mainland state capital cities, with around 30 full time staff working for the fund. The call centre and admin are outsourced to Mercer, in common with most of the mid to small sized industry funds.
Russell himself has previous form in print: while he was studying at university he worked his way through in a phototypesetting
trade house, which contracted out to local newspapers and magazines. A business degree and a chartered accountancy qualification took him eventually to the CEO of another industry fund, before he took the role at Media Super in 2013.
Print’s transition
After six years at the head of Media Super, Russell is in a good position
to assess the print industry, which
he says is in transition. “The
notion that print is dead or dying
is clearly far from the truth. What
is happening is that print is in a period of rapid change. There will always be challenges with change.
As I see the landscape, the bigger companies are well underway in their transformation programmes, and so are some but not all of the smaller companies. I’m not sure all of them will make the transition successfully. Some sectors clearly have a bright future: outdoor print for instance, as well as packaging and personalised print; others, envelopes for instance, have a less secure outlook.”
With the nation’s super funds holding trillions of dollars, is Russell concerned about the government raiding the coffers through some form of taxation? “I think not,
although there could be a rebalancing. At present the tax on super favours the higher income earners, and that does need addressing.”
On the issue of governance, Russell and the other industry fund leaders are resisting government attempts to change the rules to bring them into line with the retail funds, pointing out it hasn’t exactly worked well with the retail funds.
Advancing women
One area that Media Super is especially concerned about is super and women. Under the current system women are disadvantaged, primarily because of their time out of the workforce during the childbearing and child rearing years. They also generally have lower wages, which translates into lower super. Russell wants changes. “We would like to
see super continue to be paid when a woman is on paid parental leave. We also want to see it paid when people earn less than $450 a week, which is the current lower limit. Some of our members in the entertainment world may have some weeks when they are on low pay for one reason or another. It is simply not fair their employer does not have to pay super because they are not earning so much.”
Strong position
Super is a crucial part of the working life, and its guardians have a big responsibility. The message from Russell for people in the print industry is that Media Super is in a strong position and is consistently delivering a solid investment return. It has low fees and is focused on its members, while working for the good of the entire industry. 21
Leading Super products:
one year returns, according to SuperRatings SR50 Balanced Index
Out of the 50 major Super funds the top five performing Balanced Options over the 12 months to November 2018 were:
1. Media Super – My Super Balanced  4.20%
2. NGS Super – Diversified  4.16%
3. Hostplus – Balanced  4.10%
4. Qantas Super – Growth  4.09%
5. Club Plus Super – My Super  3.93%
Median Single Strategy 2.19%


































































































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