Investment market update, Q1 2025-26

In this episode of the Exploring Super podcast, Paul Griffiths, an Investment Manager at ESSSuper, provides commentary on economic and market movements for the July to September 2025 period.

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This article and podcast are of a general nature only and do not consider your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. 

Before acting on any advice contained in this podcast or article, please download and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and target market determination, found on our website: esssuper.com.au 

The Board recommends that you seek financial advice before acting upon this information. 

Investment returns cannot be guaranteed as investment markets can be volatile. As a consequence, returns can be positive or negative. Past investment performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Benefits in ESSSuper's Accumulation Plan, Income Streams and Beneficiary Account products are not guaranteed or underwritten by the Victorian Government or ESSSuper. Any institutions mentioned by name does not constitute endorsement.  SuperRatings is a third-party superannuation research company providing data analysis, information and commentary to both the public and the superannuation industry. Refer to superratings.com.au for more information. 

Transcript

00:00:02 

You're listening to Exploring Super, the exclusive podcast for ESS Super members. Welcome to Exploring Super, the exclusive podcast for ESS Super members. My name's Michelle Guinan and I'm the Stakeholder Relationship Manager. 

00:00:20 

My name's Christian Kueng and I'm the Manager of Member Education. Today we're welcoming back Robbie Campo, ESS Super's Chief Executive Officer. Welcome back, Robbie. 

00:00:28 

Thank you very much. 

00:00:29 

We'll get straight into it, shall we? So what have you been up to this year? 

00:00:34 

Well, it's been a very busy year for ESS Super. There's been a lot, but it's really pleasing. We've made great progress across a range of different areas that we've been working on. We saw some legislative changes made to our Governing Act, and we've had a real focus on just continuing to improve the services we deliver and therefore the outcomes that we're able to help members achieve. 

00:00:57 

the funds continued to be really well rated to by external ratings agency, which is always a good way for us to see via an independent party that we're continuing to deliver for members. 

00:01:09 

That's excellent. So what have been some of the EWS Super's key achievements over the past year? 

00:01:14 

Well, we've had some big ones and the biggest of all is that the fund is turning 100 this year. So at the time of recording this, we're just a few days away from an event to celebrate our 

00:01:27 

100 years. It does mean that ESSSuper is one of the oldest superannuation funds in Australia, and it was set up to ensure the financial security for Victorians who worked to protect people in the state, but also who served them in other ways through teaching or through general public service. It was one of the first 

00:01:50 

retirement schemes that was established in Australia, but it's still relevant today. So I think the way we work to support members and the things we do have changed quite significantly in the 100 years. But the purpose still remains exactly as it was when it was first set up, which is to help the people who serve Victoria have financial security when they retire so that they can enjoy their retirement after 

00:02:17 

pretty hard life working. 

00:02:19 

Definitely, yeah. 

00:02:21 

But there have been some other things as well. So apart from turning 100, we've made some important changes. So we introduced a new default contribution rate for new ESS super members. 

00:02:33 

We've launched a new website. We continue to be rated as a top performing fund. So one of the main independent ratings agencies, Super Ratings, has rated us platinum and that's I think 16 or 17 years in a row. 

00:02:45 

Excellent. 

00:02:46 

We also, there was another industry survey done around member satisfaction and ESS Super, I'm very pleased to say, hit the number one spot. 

00:02:58 

And that is a really important reflection for us of how our members feel about the fund. And that is comparing the member responses from lots of different funds. We certainly aim for that, but it's very pleasing for us that that's what our members feel. And there's been a number of enhancements made to advice services that are less probably evident to members, but will really improve our capacity to efficiently deliver advice to members so that we can make that service 

00:03:28 

reach more members. 

00:03:30 

You've mentioned some of our achievements, but what have been some of the key events throughout the year? 

00:03:34 

Well, really deeply understanding our members is a really important part of what we do at SS Super and I think that does differentiate the fund that we are really focused on the work that our members do and the way in which the super fund needs to. 

00:03:48 

adjust to accommodate that way of working. So I had a couple of opportunities this year to really get deep on understanding our members work better. So one of our directors, Cole Jones, who's our ambulance representative, took me out on the road for the day. It was really eye opening in terms of the way that our ambulance service operates in the community, the working environments that they're in, you know, we're tending to 

00:04:15 

people in car parks late at night, at roadsides, it's a very different working environment to what I'm accustomed to. 

00:04:25 

Is there lights and sirens? 

00:04:26 

There were lights and sirens. There was a bit of an unexpected lights and siren. I didn't realise we were in an unmarked ambulance, I didn't even know they existed. And so then all of a sudden the lights and sirens are on and we're going down Tullamarine Freeway much faster than I was expecting. 

00:04:42 

Cole says I didn't have the widest knuckles he'd seen, but I was certainly up there. I also had the opportunity to do Fire Ops 101, which is a day that FIV runs, where they invite different members of the community to come and do a day of firefighting. So you learn and you know, you're all kitted up and you're in breathing equipment. Again, incredible in terms of understanding the hazards of firefighting. 

00:05:07 

the way in which teamwork is absolutely critical for every single type of job that they attend. And so learning all the different aspects to the fire service, which goes well beyond firefighting. And I think also I learnt that I'm probably not as strong as most of our firefighters, because even just kidding up and putting all the gear on, you know, took most of my strength. I'm probably a better CEO than I am a firefighter. 

00:05:32 

You're in the right career then. 

00:05:34 

But those are things that you can actually bring back to the office though, the teamwork, the collaboration, those sorts of things. 

00:05:40 

Yeah, absolutely. Also very important for working in a super fund and certainly very important in terms of the way ESSsuper operates. I think also lots of thinking about the state super fund side of things. So the legislative changes that I mentioned before, 

00:05:56 

were really important, thinking about as the SSF evolves. We have now, I think, just under 6,000 working members in the SSF schemes and starting to think about what happens when all of those members shift into retirement and then the scheme will be quite a different scheme. So there are a couple of things done to attend to that, but one of them is starting to think about how the governance for those members should change. 

00:06:21 

because previously it's been active members who are eligible to be member representatives on the board, but that's now been changed with the legislative amendment and will be opened up and the unions will be more involved in helping to nominate. 

00:06:37 

representatives but with an expanded membership. 

00:06:40 

Okay. 

00:06:40 

Excellent. 

00:06:41 

Thanks Robbie. You mentioned the default contribution rate before. Could you perhaps expand on that a little bit, give us a bit more detail about what happened there? 

00:06:48 

Sure. The rate that members contribute at when they're in the ESDB... 

00:06:54 

is a really important determinant of what benefit they receive if they're disabled or should they die and certainly of their retirement outcomes. So it had always been the case that when things were done paper-based. 

00:07:10 

members were surrounded by older members or with someone from *** Super in front of them to help them understand the impact of that decision. And so we always had very healthy contribution rates, which is important because that's what helps members achieve the best outcomes based on them understanding what the implications are. When everything went digital a few years ago, we lost that opportunity to make sure members 

00:07:35 

election about the contribution rate was supported by good education and an understanding. And what happened was we saw the contribution rates decline and most members just not even filling in that section and so they would default to 0. So we did some deep member research to kind of understand what was happening and what members felt was the right thing for us to do. 

00:07:58 

And through that research, it really came through strongly that what members thought was the best way for us to approach it was to make the default rate 7%, which is the highest rate, and then have member education so that those who didn't feel that they wanted to contribute at that rate or were not able to could reduce it. And in financial services, it's understood that that's generally what a default should do. A default should replicate 

00:08:22 

what will produce the best outcome for the member. And then those who are kind of motivated to make a change are more likely to do so. Whereas we know young members often not thinking about their retirement outcomes when they're just first starting to work. So based on that, you know, an understanding of what the impact was on members and that really deep research of our members with a broad representative sample, the board made the decision that they would change the default rate to 7%. 

00:08:52 

So we've beefed up our education of members. So when people are being on boarded into the emergency services, they get an education session from Christian members of your team, the member education team, to really explain the impact of the decision so that members can make the decision to reduce their rate if that's what they feel is the right thing to do. And since then, we've seen an improvement in the contribution rate and certainly have not seen members feel unhappy about the decision that ASA Super has made. 

00:09:22 

with the long-term interests of our members in mind. Yeah, that's great. 

00:09:25 

Some members may remember that we've had some issues with our administrator over the past few years. Recently, IRIS have sold their superannuation business to Apex. Will this mean any significant changes for our members? 

00:09:37 

So it is a really important change that's occurred. The fund outsourced some of the back office administration. So that's kind of processing of contributions and the stuff that happens, you know, that 

00:09:52 

doesn't really, it's not something that members probably see. That was outsourced about four years ago and members might remember the first year of that was pretty bumpy. I arrived just after that had occurred. So we had remained pretty unhappy with Iris's performance. 

00:10:09 

While we certainly improved the things that members could see, it required a lot more effort on our part to make sure that they were performing, and we never felt that they were performing against what they should have been doing. Because we care about the services that are provided to members, we never took the pressure off ours. Part of the problem was, I think, that they had decided that this wasn't a business they wanted to be in long term, and so they did sell to another company called Apex. 

00:10:39 

And that sale went through at the start of June this year. We think that's probably a positive development because Apex are a global administration company. They want to be in this for the long term. And so that means they're going to be committed to operating a business that delivers on what they should be delivering. So in terms of the impact on members, we've been really clear that we don't want there to be any disruption to services to members. 

00:11:04 

But we're seeing it's early days still, but we're seeing positive signs in terms of Apex's willingness to invest in what needs to be done in order to perform against what they're required to do, but help us deliver exceptional service to our members. 

00:11:19 

Okay, so what can our members look forward to in 2026? 

00:11:22 

Well, it's a good lead on from the previous question about Apex, because one of the things that we are doing early with Apex 

00:11:29 

is working on delivering a new app for our members. 

00:11:33 

Excellent. 

00:11:33 

So the whole time I've been at ESS Super, I've had quite a bit of feedback about our app. It's not one of the things that members have loved about ESS Super. I mean, it does the basics, but we are working to launch the new app. It will be either before Christmas or early in the new year. We're working hard to make it before Christmas, but we want to make sure that we get it right. So we're not going to launch it if it's not ready. 

00:11:53 

We do think that it will be, look, there'll be things about it that look different, but not significantly, but its performance should be better. You know, we often get feedback that the app is often crashing. And so we're really excited about that quite significant improvement in benefit for members. 

00:12:11 

That's great. 

00:12:12 

The superannuation industry is ever evolving. What have been some of the key changes within the industry? 

00:12:18 

So ISS super, it's part of the Victorian public sector, but it's absolutely part of the broader superannuation 

00:12:23 

industry. And while we're quite different, we still are a super fund. Across the industry, there's been a few areas of focus over the year. One has been intensive focus on service, a few funds that were seen to be delivering, you know, not the level of service that is expected by the regulators or by government. That doesn't apply to ESS super because we do, you know, because we are smaller, we have a close relationship with our members and we put, we know our members expect really high levels of service. 

00:12:53 

And so that's what we work towards delivering. But there have been some broader changes. So probably the most high profile thing is the government is making changes to the way in which superannuation is taxed. Those laws haven't changed yet. So we don't know the specific details. But the policy is that they intend to increase the tax that applies to people with very high balances. 

00:13:18 

and improve the tax concessions that are applied to those with very low, well, kind of lower income earners, who typically therefore have lower balances. So the... 

00:13:29 

This set of changes, so it's above those with balances above 3 million. And so there'll be an increased rate of tax. We've looked at our membership and certainly in terms of our current membership, there are very few that this new tax will apply to. But once we see the final legislation, which will pass at some stage in the next few months, I'd imagine, then we will be certainly doing some information on our website to make sure that people can understand the detail. 

00:13:56 

So the rate of tax, the way it applies in a DB fund is still being worked through because the tax applies to earnings of the balances over 3 million and then over 10 million. So we don't necessarily, because we're DB, have a balance, but they are figuring out a way that it can be applied to defined benefit funds. But certainly looking at the number of members that have balances that are over 3 million, there are 

00:14:23 

I think under 20 members in ESS super in total, and many of those members are in retirement and it's less likely that they're going to be having an increasing entitlement. And so therefore very few members that this will apply to. The changes at the bottom end, it's called a listo. So it's a tax offset that applies to low income earners. That's less likely to have a significant 

00:14:45 

significant impact on ESS Super's members, but it's a really important change in the super system to make sure that there's fairness and there is that government support via tax concessions for the lowest income earners and one which I've been strongly involved in advocating for with my Women in Super hat on because I'm also the chair of an industry body Women in Super as well as my day job as ESS Super CEO. 

00:15:07 

Okay, so you've mentioned some of the key changes there. 

00:15:10 

What would you suggest are some of the key challenges or the biggest challenges facing the super industry? 

00:15:15 

Without a, well, there's probably a couple, but I'd say the most significant challenge is the fact that superannuation funds, I mean, there's 4.2 trillion in the Australian super system, that it's increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals. 

00:15:33 

So the need for there to be an ongoing focus on increasing the security and controls over your systems, making sure that you are really safe from cyber criminals through your system, your processes and the protections. And that's not a kind of set and forget. That's constantly looking at the new things that cyber criminals are doing and constantly making enhancements to protect your systems. So we're very active on that front. 

00:16:01 

We have a continuous process of improving our security features. And we also quite regularly do activity to test. So to bring independent people in to test whether there are any vulnerabilities. And that includes, you know, we're lucky we're part of the Victorian Government because we get a lot of support also via the Victorian Government in terms of really making sure that we have as best and as contemporary a set of controls around our systems as possible. 

00:16:30 

There's another really important aspect to this, which is often when there's a breach of a system, it will, I think, seven or eight times out of 10 be because of a mistake that an individual's made that has compromised the security of the organisation. So I'll always remind members that you help to play a role. Same with our staff. We're constantly training our staff, but reminding members that the thing that keeps your account safe is 

00:17:00 

the password and the controls that we put around you accessing your account. So during the year we widen the application of our two-factor authentication. It's really important that we have your mobile phone number so that we can apply to two-factor authentication. You can't get online at ESS Super anymore unless you are going through that two-factor authentication process. But making sure that you have a strong password, that it's unique to ESSSuper and that you do not share that with anyone. 

00:17:27 

And in some of the work that we've done this year, we've discovered a few members who had shared their passwords with other organisations who were supporting their financial planning. Really, really important that you do not do that. So you are a very important part of our cybersecurity plan. 

00:17:46 

Thank you. And I can attest to the... 

00:17:48 

Regular training. Yes, quite regular. 

00:17:52 

Look, the other thing is, I guess, the geopolitical environment. You know, we are in an environment where there are a lot of pressures on investors and long-term investors to understand what's going on in the world. And it's a rapidly changing and evolving environment, but one where there are more tensions than there have been, say, over the last two decades. 

00:18:15 

That's something that we continue to monitor and watch very closely. 

00:18:18 

That's important. 

00:18:19 

So what advice would you give members who are just starting to think seriously about their super? 

00:18:25 

Well, I would encourage all members to think seriously about their super. But let's face it, generally that doesn't start to happen until you get closer to retirement, which is, I guess, why we made the default contribution change, because we know members generally when they're under 30, under 40, generally not thinking seriously about their super. But there's a wide range of resources we make available 

00:18:45 

via our website. And the enhancement to the website has really made it a lot more accessible for people to find information. We've rewritten a lot of the content to make it more accessible. But we have, you know, this podcast is part of a wider podcast series. There's fact sheets. We often attend workplaces and give members education. But if you're getting closer to retirement and you are thinking a bit more seriously and wanting to understand how your super works, 

00:19:13 

We've, over the course of the year, released a four-part retirement video series. So I'd really urge you to watch that. And then also, if you're getting closer to retirement, I'd really recommend that you come and make an appointment with a member, Ed, a member of your team, Kristen. Yes, I would highly recommend that. And my sister, who's a little bit older than me, is, you know, thinking about her retirement in coming years. And she's an ESS super member. She's a principal of a school. So she came and had an appointment. 

00:19:43 

and really helped her to understand what her options are and just understand her super. That's great. You don't realize how fast it does actually go the closer you get to it. 

00:19:54 

Yeah, that's true, that's true. 

00:19:55 

And it's also, it's confusing, you know, if you don't work in it, there's not many people really understand. I mean, the defined benefit is very unique. So it's not even like you can talk generally to most of your friends, because unless they're also an ESS super, they're unlikely to understand the detail. 

00:20:10 

So you really can only get information about the detail of our scheme from people who work here, because it's not likely that other people who, even other people who understand finance generally, are not necessarily going to understand the detail of *** super. 

00:20:26 

That's really important. Well, we recently had an annual members meeting, obviously a great opportunity for us to meet and get feedback from our membership base. 

00:20:34 

So what feedback have you received from members this year and how has it influenced your priorities? 

00:20:39 

Well, our annual member meeting is always a great event. We do it quite differently to other funds because most other funds only do it virtually, whereas we have it in person as well as you can participate virtually. It's always very lovely to see members face to face. I had one member who pulled me aside to tell me about how great the new website was, which was greatly appreciated and great to get that direct feedback. It's always nice. We also had 

00:21:04 

some questions around our minimum requisite benefit. So this is a feature of the fund that is also not widely understood, but it operates like a safety net under the ESDB defined benefit to make sure that members are not falling behind when compared with where they're receiving SGs. So it was something that was introduced when the superannuation system was introduced across the broader economy. So that's led us to think about just making sure that we explain this a little bit more 

00:21:34 

effectively. So while it doesn't really apply to members unless you are leaving your service early, that's generally the members who receive the minimum requisite benefit. It is something that's an important safety net within the scheme. And I think the feedback we've received is it's not very clearly explained. And we're certainly taking that feedback on and having a think about what we can do to improve that disclosure. The other thing, which is often the case at our annual member meeting is 

00:22:03 

Dan Selatine, who's our chief investment officer, is the star of the show and members have lots and lots and lots of questions about our investment activity, what we're invested in, you know, what the markets look like, what members can expect. Crystal ball stuff. 

00:22:18 

Yeah, he's a very popular man. 

00:22:21 

That was certainly true of this year. So it's always great to see and you know, people who like our 

00:22:29 

Actuary, who supports a lot of different super funds, always comes back and says, gosh, I can't believe how engaged all your members are and how many people turn up. It's always a sell out, the AMM. So I think that we make sure that we get Dan out in other podcasts. I think there's one coming up soon with Dan, but also that we do from time to time a video. 

00:22:51 

So certainly I'd encourage you if you're interested to understand more about our investments to check out one of those resources. 

00:22:57 

Yeah, Dan's pretty much always got a standing invite for the podcast here. 

00:23:00 

Well, Dan and other members of his team. I know some of the others have come in as well. So it's not just Dan, but Dan certainly is the star of the AMM show. 

00:23:08 

Definitely. 

00:23:09 

So since 2016, Joan Fitzpatrick has been the board president and her term is coming to an end in February next year. 

00:23:17 

and she has guided the fund through some significant transformations. What do you see as the most defining leadership decisions that shape the fund's direction? Can you name just one? I guess that's the hard part. 

00:23:29 

Yeah, no, very hard to pin it down with just responding in terms of one. I think the fund has been so incredibly lucky to have Jane Fitzpatrick as its board president and chair for the last 10 years. She is an incredible leader. She's incredibly good board chair. 

00:23:47 

She upholds the highest standards of governance. She role models the best behaviour. And I think if I had to call that one thing, it's that the board drives an absolute focus on our members and that we have a really strong and member-focused culture. And they demonstrate that through all of their decisions. 

00:24:07 

But that then flows down through the organisation. That's kind of what's understood in governance that the board sets the tone. So certainly as the chair of the board, Joan has ensured that. So, you know, every board meeting, they'll have a discussion about, you know, a member case and what it means, you know, what we can do better. So there's always a focus on 

00:24:29 

constructively engaging with any issue that's arisen to make sure that we can improve upon it. A very strategic focus about the long term, but an absolute commitment to our members. 

00:24:41 

Joan has many friends who are members of ESS Super. She's got family members who are members of ESS Super. So she has that deep connection into the Victorian community. But we will be announcing soon who the next chair of the board will be. But certainly even in managing the transition of the board, I think Joan's applied her very best skills to ensuring the long-term outcomes of ESS Super will continue to be strong. 

00:25:07 

Okay, well thanks Robbie. So that's all of our formal questions. I suppose informally, do you have much 

00:25:12 

for Christmas and would you have a message that you'd like to give to our members? 

00:25:16 

I don't have much planned for the break. I think just actually to have a rest. We've got some friends that live on the New South West coast so we might just drive up there and spend a few days with them but otherwise really just... 

00:25:30 

Catching up on a bit of gardening and just having a bit of a break. In terms of final message, I think just thank you for your support through 2025. It's been a big year for SS Super. 

00:25:42 

We're really proud of the fact that we're a fund that is just solely focused on the Victorian public servants and emergency services workers that deliver for our state government. You know, we're really dedicated to the fact that we're big enough to be able to get things done that we need to do for our members, but small enough to have that more personal connection with our members and the communities in which they work and serve. So if you're working, I hope you still get the chance to 

00:26:07 

enjoy the festive period. But if you do have the chance to have a break, I hope it's recharging and restoring. And we'll see you back in 2026. 

00:26:18 

Excellent. 

00:26:18 

Excellent. Thanks. 

00:26:19 

I've got one last question. Oh, secret question. Here we go. Last year I asked you your favourite Christmas carol. This year, a little bit more generic, what's your favourite thing about Christmas? 

00:26:30 

My favourite thing about Christmas? Well, half my family's Italian, so we do have the big Italian get together on Christmas Day. And I have to say that's a pretty good day. Everyone's a very good cook, and so it's a pretty good feed. My uncle makes homemade sausages, so they're always a highlight of the day, but everyone goes all out. So 

00:26:49 

Yeah, it's just a lovely day being together and enjoying being with family. Perfect. 

00:26:55 

Excellent. Do you have to host or? 

00:26:58 

I'm not hosting. My house isn't actually big enough for the whole family. There's only, I think, three houses that can accommodate everyone. I do other things during the course of the year, but I certainly do do a bit of cooking though. I don't know what I'm going to cook this year. Last year I think I did some chicken, but yeah, not sure. Maybe cannoli. 

00:27:18 

Brilliant. 

00:27:20 

If you need to try any out and do it before Christmas, we'll be here up until the 24th. 

00:27:26 

Yeah, that's it. Okay, well, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us, Robbie. It was great to hear from you again and look forward to having you on again soon. 

00:27:33 

Anytime. 

00:27:34 

Well, that wraps up today's episode of Exploring Super, the exclusive podcast for ESS Super members. We look forward to producing more content for you at ESS Super, proudly serving our members. 

00:27:46 

This podcast is of a general nature only and does not consider your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. Before acting on any advice contained in this podcast, please download and read the relevant product disclosure statement and target market determination found on our website, e00super.com.au. The board recommends that you seek financial advice before acting upon this information. Investment returns cannot be guaranteed as investment markets can be volatile. 

00:28:15 

As a consequence, returns can be positive or negative. Past investment performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Benefits in ESSuper's accumulation plan, income streams, and beneficiary account products are not guaranteed or underwritten by the Victorian Government or ESSuper. Any institutions mentioned by name does not constitute endorsement. 

00:28:39 

Super Ratings is a third-party superannuation research company providing data analysis, information and commentary to both the public and the superannuation industry. Refer to superratings.com.au for more information. 

00:28:54 

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) is the peak policy and research body for the superannuation sector. 

00:29:02 

The ASFA retirement standard for a comfortable retirement is $595,000 for retirement at age 67, as at 30 June 2025. 

00:29:10 

Investment Trends is an external marketing research company unrelated to EWS Super that conducts surveys on behalf of EWS Super. EWS Super pays Investment Trends a fee to conduct this research. Refer to investmenttrends.com.au for more information.