No. Your member entitlements through the Retirement Scheme were not affected. And there was no change to how your benefit or pension is calculated.

EISS Super sent you a final statement in May 2023 showing the value of your benefit entitlements at the date of the transfer and any transactions made from 1 July 2022 up until the merger date.

• You log into your online account through the Cbus Super website
• Your employer now makes super contributions to Cbus Super
• You’ll need to set up a new third party authority with Cbus Super (if you want one in place)
• Your BPAY details changed
• You have more ways to make contributions
• Your contact details were transferred (including email address) however your communications preferences (e.g. whether you like to receive things like statements, important updates and marketing by email or post) didn’t transfer across.
  
  

There are also some changes to fees and investments that you should be aware of.

For full details of the changes, please read your significant event notice that EISS Super sent to you in March. For fees and other costs, please read the PDS.

• Your member number and entitlements are the same
• Your Additional Benefit Cover is the same (if you had any) 
• Beneficiary arrangements will have transferred to your new Cbus Retirement Scheme account
• Your power of attorney (if you had one) will have transferred to your new Cbus Retirement Scheme account.

There isn’t a Cbus app for your account, but you can manage everything for your super on the go through your Cbus online account.

Your welcome letter from us included instructions for accessing your online account.

Alternatively, you can call our helpline on 1300 361 784 for access details.

The Product Disclosure Statement (PDF) is available on our website at cbussuper.com.au/forms.

For full details about the fees and costs for your Cbus Retirement Scheme account, including for all investment options and how and when they’re charged, refer to our Fees and other costs in the PDS.

Note:
Fees and costs only apply to the accumulation components of your account. For contributory members, that is your Contributor Financed Benefit and Other Contributions Account. If you’re a deferred member, they apply to your full account balance.

Pension members did not pay fees with EISS Super and do not pay fees on their lifetime, spouse or child pension with Cbus Super.

The EISS Retirement Scheme investment options were not identical to those in the Cbus Retirement Scheme. As such, when your account was transferred to Cbus Super, the part of your benefit that had investment choice was invested in the investment option(s) that most closely matched your previous investment choice with EISS Super.

For contributory members, the part of your benefit that allowed for investment choice includes your Contributor Financed Benefit and any Other Contributions account you have. For deferred members, your entire account balance allows for investment choice. This stayed the same when you transferred to Cbus Super.

The table on page 11 of your significant event notice (SEN) provides details about how your EISS Retirement Scheme investment options were transferred to Cbus Retirement Scheme investment options. 
 
Please note: If you were previously invested in the EISS Retirement Scheme Conservative or Conservative Balanced option, your investment and any future contributions were transferred into two different Cbus Retirement Scheme investment options as shown in the table on page 11 of your SEN. This is because the Cbus Retirement Scheme does not have an investment option that matched these EISS Retirement Scheme options closely enough.

Read more information about our investment options.

You can read more information about investment options and previous investment performance at Cbus Super on our Investment options webpage.

Yes, you can choose to stay with your current investment option(s) or change options.

Cbus Super offers more investment choice than EISS Super did, so you now have access to more investment options in which to invest your account. Read pages 11 to 12 of your significant event notice for details.

You can change the investment options for your account in two ways. One is to change which option(s) your whole account is invested in, another is to change how you direct your future contributions.

More information is available on our How do I change my investment options? section of our Investment options webpage.

(Please note that the Cbus Self Managed option is not available for Cbus Retirement Scheme members.)

Your Additional Benefit Cover (if you have it) will stay the same. The Standard Member Levy for Additional Benefit Cover will stay at 25% of the full charge (your employer pays the rest) and from time to time this might be discounted. The Standard Member Levy will continue to be deducted each month from your Contributor Financed Benefit and will be shown in your annual statement.

EISS Super had a reserve which it used to pay Additional Benefit Cover claims. Cbus Super will continue to manage and pay claims from this reserve. Please note, if you have Additional Benefit Cover this will also remain the same.

Details on your Additional Benefit Cover within the Cbus Retirement Scheme is outlined on page 17 of the Product Disclosure Statement (PDF), or on our Forms and publications webpage.

If you had a Total and Permanent Invalidity insurance claim on foot or you are a dependant making a claim for a member’s death benefit, your account balance will have been transferred to Cbus Super and your claim will continue to be processed. However, there may be a short delay between 5 May 2023 and 22 May 2023 as a result of the merger.

If you would like an update on your claim, please contact us on 1300 722 152.

New claims

Retirement Scheme members can make an insurance claim during the limited service period.

If you want to make a new claim, contact our Claims Team on 1300 722 152.

Superannuation legislation places a limit on the total amount of super that you can transfer into a tax-free retirement phase income stream. This is called a ‘transfer balance cap’ and may include:

• non-defined benefit pensions such as account based pensions,
• the special value of capped defined benefit income streams (including Retirement Scheme and Defined Benefit Scheme pensions), and
• annuities.

Pension members have a personal transfer balance cap of between $1.6 million and $1.9 million

When your defined benefit pension in the EISS Retirement Scheme was transferred to Cbus Super on the merger date of 12 May 2023, we were required by law to recalculate the “special value” of your pension and report it to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This special value was calculated by multiplying your annual defined benefit pension payments by 16.

It's important to keep in mind that recalculating the special value of your pension has not changed your fortnightly pension entitlement. However, if you have had CPI adjustments to your pension since it started, the recalculated special value and your transfer balance account will be higher.

A small number of members may have seen their transfer balance indexed and go above their personal transfer balance cap limit. In this instance, they will have received a letter from the ATO.

For those members with a defined benefit pension and other pension accounts, this may have personal taxation implications. In this instance, we recommend you seek independent taxation advice to understand how this may impact you.

For more details please see page 13 of the Retirement Scheme significant event notice, which EISS Super sent to you in late March 2023.

You can also visit the ATO’s Transfer balance cap – capped defined benefit income streams page to learn more and see some examples of the possible impacts.