About SuperEasy

I want the simplicity of one single investment choice that will be automatically adjusted each month so as to take away the need for me to review my investment strategy as I get older.

I also believe my money should be working for me from day one and that I can track the progress I am making with my savings. In other words, access online my personal account balance.

There are only two sets of charges. For each member there will be:

• An administration fee of $6.00 per month which is waived if you are employed by a participating employer of SuperEasy.
• An annual management fee of 0.5% pa of your account balance.

As a member of the scheme you and/or your Employer will be required to make contributions to the Scheme. Details of the contributions payable by both you and/or your Employer are described in More Info.

You can apply to join as a Member if:

• Your local council or employer has joined the scheme as a Participating Employer and agreed to deduct and pay contributions into the scheme on your behalf.

You can apply to join as a Personal Member if:

• You are an employee of a local council and your council has not joined as a Participating Employer and you wish to pay contributions directly from your bank account.

Once you are a Member, even if you leave your council or employer for whatever reason, you are entitled to belong as a Personal Member for as long as you wish.

It is a plan that will invest and accumulate savings which are held individually on your behalf in trust for you; for your retirement.

Not only does this accumulate savings towards your retirement but can continue to be used and managed throughout your retirement, for example well beyond age 65.

Our approach to responsible investment, including environmental, social and governance considerations is to have an average of 10% of our overseas equities to be specifically invested in socially responsible investment funds. Details can be found in the sections that describe each of our different investment funds.

The Automatic Fund is a fund, which as you grow older will automatically and smoothly change your target investments to a more conservative investment mix.

The Automatic Fund has been designed solely for the purpose of retirement savings and is exclusive to members of these schemes.

Each of these four funds has a different investment objective and pursues a different investment strategy. Your return will depend principally on the investment option chosen by you.

The different objectives mean different proportions are invested in different assets. However, the objectives of these funds as set by the Scheme's Trustee from time to time, are indicated by the asset allocations applicable, and currently can be summarised as follows:

Within each of these asset classes, the current target asset allocation of each Fund has a range of investments including overseas equities (hedged, un-hedged and socially responsible investment funds), Trans-Tasman equities, property, overseas and New Zealand fixed interest securities and cash. Currently the target asset allocation for overseas equities includes 10 % investment in socially responsible investment funds. The target asset allocation of these Funds is set out in the table below.

These asset allocations take into account the Funds’ objectives and the effects of the 2007 legislation changes, which include that assets on average for the Growth, Balanced and Income Funds can now be expected to be invested for a much longer term. This means for these Funds that it is now appropriate to make more use of Growth Assets, which although over time are more volatile, are expected to produce higher returns, on average, than Income Assets.

The Conservative Fund may suit an investor who is looking to invest funds for a shorter time and has for example a 3 – 5 year time horizon.

All you have to do is complete the Application Form which you can print off by clicking on the icons. If your Employer is a Participating Employer of SuperEasy these can be obtained from your Human Resources Department.

Once completed, all you need to do is send it to your Human Resources Department, or Civic Assurance if you are paying contributions directly from your bank account.

You will receive an acknowledgement letter from Civic Asssurance as the administration and investment manager advising you of your plan details, including your individual password and access code to the Member Services section of the SuperEasy Web site: www.supereasy.co.nz

SuperEasy is the trading name for a section of the Local Government Superannuation Scheme, which was established on 1 June  2005 to enable employers in the Local Authority sector to provide superannuation benefits to their employees. It is registered with the Government Actuary, number AS/1527.