UniSuper

30 June is only a short time away, but you can still contribute to your retirement savings before the end of financial year.

Voluntary contributions can be a great way to reduce your taxable income while giving your future savings a well-deserved boost.

If you would like to make a non-concessional contribution, determine this years’ contribution cap, or learn more about what this could mean for your super, you should head to our website:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/superseason

The information is of a general nature and doesn’t consider your personal circumstances. Before making decisions, you should consider whether the information is appropriate for your circumstances otherwise seek financial advice.

With 30 June right around the corner, now is a fantastic time to get your super prepared for the end of financial year.

Personal contributions and salary sacrifice can be great ways to reduce your taxable income while giving your future savings a well-deserved boost.

If you would like to make an extra concessional contribution, determine your contribution cap for this year, or learn more about what this could mean for your super, you should head to our website:

https://unisuper.com.au/super-season

The information is of a general nature and doesn’t consider your personal circumstances. Before making decisions, you should consider whether the information is appropriate for your circumstances otherwise seek financial advice.

UniSuper's CEO, Peter Chun, has provided an new update to members via email.

Please find a copy of this email below:

I am very pleased to share with you that our online services across both UniSuper’s website and mobile app have been restored.

Restoration update:

Members are able to log in and view their balance, request investment switches, view investment performance, request withdrawals and more. We’re still restoring functionality of our retirement calculators, but this will be back soon.

Please note that account balances shown may not reflect transactions which have not yet been processed due to our recent system outage. We are processing transactions as quickly as we can, and additional resources have been put on to minimise delays.

I’d like to thank all members for your patience and understanding through the restoration, particularly those who shared words of support with our teams in the contact centre.

Our focus is now on processing requests and returning to usual operations as quickly as possible. As we move into this phase, members can access further updates on our website.

Ensuring smooth operations:

We take our responsibility to provide reliable services to our members extremely seriously.

We have engaged in rigorous testing through the restoration to ensure stable, secure services as members expect.

My team are conducting a full review of the incident to ensure that wherever possible we minimise the risk of disruption in the future.

We will assess this incident and ensure we are best positioned to deliver services members expect and deserve.

We’re here to help

The teams in our contact centre and in-person around Australia are here to help. Should you have any queries or concerns, or need assistance with a request, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Members are at the core of everything we do. We are here to provide exceptional retirement outcomes for our members. For over forty years we have been delivering as a fund with low fees, strong long-term performance, and a deep connection to the higher education and research sector, and now all Australians.

Thank you for being a UniSuper member.

Yours sincerely,
Peter Chun
Chief Executive Office, UniSuper

UniSuper services are now back online. Members are able to log in to their accounts via our website and our mobile app, lodge online transaction requests, view investment performance and more.

We’re still restoring functionality of our Retirement Savings Calculator and Retirement Income Calculator, but they’ll be back soon. We thank you for your patience.

Unprocessed transaction requests:

Please note that estimated account balances may not reflect transactions which have not yet been processed due to our recent system outage. We are processing transactions as quickly as we can. Additional resources have been put on to minimise delays for members.

We’re here to help

Our contact centre is available at 1800 331 685 from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm (AEST) Monday to Friday to assist with member enquiries.

Thank you again for your understanding, particularly with our team in the contact centre.

A further update will be provided later today.

Our Chief Member and Advice Officer, Danielle Mair, has provided another update to members via email tonight.

You can find a copy of this email below:

We have made great progress towards getting all our systems back online.

Members can log in to their accounts via Member Online, view their balance and see the up-to-date investment performance for their accounts.

Please note, that account balances shown may not reflect transactions which have not yet been processed due to the outage. My team are processing transactions as quickly as we can to minimise delays for members.

For members looking for help, please reach out to us. Many transactions can be easily lodged using forms through Member Online, or over the phone. Our contact centre is open additional hours this Saturday to assist members.

Restoration update:

In addition to assisting members with transactions through the contact centre, today we have restored the ability for members to lodge digital lump-sum withdrawal requests through Member Online.

This process is easy to use, with most requests processed and paid swiftly and securely, usually within 5 business days.

We ask that members who have already submitted a form requesting withdrawal please do not submit a new form for the same request through this tool. If we receive a subsequent withdrawal request from you, it will be treated as a separate request, and you may receive an additional payment. If you have any queries, please get in touch with us.

Services will continue to be progressively brought online. Updated information on the restoration will be available on our website:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/contact-us/outage-update

Thank you for your patience as we continue with the restoration of services.

Transaction Requests:

As mentioned above, while we get systems back online, members wishing to lodge transaction requests, including investment switches, can do so by submitting forms to us via our public web and member online.

Mobile App and other services:

We are working to get our app back online, building on progress with the Member Online platform. We are going through rigorous testing to ensure that once restored the app will remain stable and secure, as members expect.

We anticipate our app being operational again early next week, we will continue to provide updates on this on our website. Please note that all app functionality is available through logging in to Member Online on our website.

We’re here to help

My team in our contact centre are here to help.

We’re putting on additional resources, opening the contact centre this Saturday and processing outstanding member requests.

Our contact centre will be open from 8.30am to 2.30pm AEST this Saturday in addition to our usual contact hours.

Thank you again to all members for your patience, particularly with my team in the contact centre.

We look forward to having all systems restored soon.

Yours sincerely,
Danielle Mair
Chief Member and Advice Officer, UniSuper

Outage-update UniSuper Chief Member and Advice Officer, Danielle Mair, has provided an update to members via email. Please find a copy of this email below:

UniSuper Chief Member and Advice Officer, Danielle Mair, has provided an update to members via email on the progressive restoration of our systems. Please find a copy of this email below:

Restoration update:

I’m pleased to share that as of midday today members have been able to login to their online UniSuper accounts.

All members can now see balances as at today’s date. Members will also be able to see the up-to-date investment performance for their accounts.

Please note, that account balances shown may not reflect transactions which have not yet been processed due to the outage. We are working to get these updated as quickly as possible.

This is ahead of the timing we expected last night and we’re pleased to share this progress with members.

Services will continue to be progressively brought online. Updated information on the restoration will be available on our website.

Thank you for your patience as we continue with the restoration of services.

Transaction Requests:

I appreciate that members are seeking ways to lodge transactions with us. While we get systems back online, members wishing to lodge transaction requests, including investment switches, can do so by submitting forms to us via our public web and member online.

Insurance Changes:

We have written to members outlining changes to insurance cover from 1 June 2024. You can find a personalised communication in your digital inbox when you log in to online services. Members who are not registered for online services will have received this letter by post. The letter explains what this change means for you and how to take any action in advance of the change.

The cut-off to request any insurance changes online prior to 1 June was originally on Friday 10 May 2024.

Given our systems have been unavailable and are progressively being restored, we have extended this cut-off to 11:59pm AEST on Friday 17 May 2024.

If you have a link in your personalised letter, you can make changes by following the link. Members who do not have a link to follow are able to download and submit a form from our website.

We’re here to help

My team in the contact centre and in our on-site locations around Australia are here to help.

We’re putting on additional resources to minimise delays for members.

Our contact centre will be open additional hours this week, operating from 8.30am to 2.30pm AEST on Saturday in addition to our usual contact hours.

Thank you again to all members for your patience. We look forward to having all systems restored soon.

Yours sincerely,
Danielle Mair
Chief Member and Advice Officer, UniSuper

UniSuper CEO, Peter Chun, has provided a further update to members via email tonight, writing to update them on the restoration of UniSuper’s online services. Please find a copy of this email below:

Once again I apologise for the disruption, and thank members for their patience as we work to get systems back online.

Importantly, member accounts are safe, this was not a cyber-attack, and no data was exposed to unauthorised third parties as a result of this outage.

Restoration update:

From midday 9 May AEST, members will be able to login to their accounts on our website.

When logged in, members will see an account balance from last week. We are working to get these updated as quickly as possible.

I want to assure members that regular trading and investments have continued as normal throughout the outage. This usual investment activity will be reflected in your balance once our systems are fully restored. As investments have been unaffected by the outage, we have up-to-date investment options performance information on our website for members. This information is available along with our investment performance comparison tool, which is operational again.

Please note, transactions will not be possible through the online platform at this time.

Every effort from my team has been taken to get systems back online as quickly as possible, while maintaining safety and security. We are conducting rigorous systems testing to ensure that once services are online, they will be stable.

We will continue to keep members updated on progress, and our public web will have up-to-date information refreshed regularly:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/contact-us/outage-update



Transaction Requests:

I appreciate that members are seeking ways to lodge transactions with us. We’re here to help. While we get systems back online, members wishing to lodge transaction requests, including investment switches, can do so by submitting forms to us via our public web.

For members who need assistance, our contact centre is available.

Additional resources:

To minimise further disruption to members, additional resources will be put in place to work through enquiries and member requests as quickly as possible, in a way that is fair and equitable.

What happened?

I have been in daily contact with Google Cloud to gain further clarity on the root cause of this outage, and to seek firm commitments this issue can never happen again. Google Cloud has been able to provide further details, and we have prepared a joint statement for UniSuper members. Please find it below.


A joint statement from UniSuper CEO Peter Chun, and Google Cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian:

"UniSuper and Google Cloud understand the disruption to services experienced by members has been extremely frustrating and disappointing. We extend our sincere apologies to all members.

While supporting UniSuper to bring its systems back online, Google Cloud has been conducting a root cause analysis.

Google Cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian has confirmed that the disruption arose from a rare and unprecedented sequence of events whereby an inadvertent misconfiguration during provisioning of UniSuper’s Private Cloud services ultimately resulted in the deletion of UniSuper’s Private Cloud subscription.

This is an isolated, ‘one-of-a-kind occurrence’ that has never before occurred with any of Google Cloud’s clients globally. This should not have happened. Google Cloud has identified the events that led to this disruption and taken measures to ensure this does not happen again."

Why did the outage last so long?

UniSuper had duplication in two geographies as a protection against outages and loss. However, when the deletion of UniSuper’s Private Cloud subscription occurred, it caused deletion across both of these geographies.

Restoring UniSuper’s Private Cloud instance has called for an incredible amount of focus, effort, and partnership between our teams to enable an extensive recovery of all the core systems. The dedication and collaboration between UniSuper and Google Cloud has led to an extensive recovery of our Private Cloud which includes hundreds of virtual machines, databases and applications.

UniSuper had backups in place with an additional service provider. These backups have minimised data loss, and significantly improved the ability of UniSuper and Google Cloud to complete the restoration.

What’s next?

UniSuper and Google Cloud have been working around the clock on a resolution. The completion of the restoration swiftly, safely and securely remains Google Cloud and UniSuper’s top priority.

We’re here to help

We will keep you informed of further updates as we get systems back online. Additional FAQs are available on our website, and our contact centre is available to assist with member enquiries.

Thank you again for your understanding, particularly with our team in the contact centre.

We look forward to having all services fully online again soon.

Yours sincerely,
Peter Chun
Chief Executive Officer, UniSuper

Outage-update Online account services, calculators and application forms are currently unavailable. We're working to fix this issue as a priority. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. More details.

UniSuper CEO, Peter Chun, has provided another update to members via email. Please find a copy of this email below:

Firstly, thank you once again for your patience during this outage.

Our team, in partnership with Google Cloud, worked throughout last night and today, and have continued to make progress towards getting our systems back online.

Restoration of services

We remain on track for the progressive restoration of member services starting Thursday, 9 May 2024. Please note, as previously advised some services will still be limited as we continue the restoration.

Several FAQs are available on our website, and these are being refreshed regularly:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/contact-us/outage-update

What happened?

Members have rightly been asking us what happened. Google Cloud has issued a statement today which confirms again that the fault originated within their service as a ‘one of its kind’, unprecedented occurrence. You can find this statement below.

A Statement from Google Cloud (7 May 2024):

"The disruption of UniSuper services was caused by a combination of rare issues at Google Cloud that resulted in an inadvertent misconfiguration during the provisioning of UniSuper’s Private Cloud, which triggered a previously unknown software bug that impacted UniSuper’s systems. This was an unprecedented occurrence, and measures have been taken to ensure this issue does not happen again.

Google Cloud sincerely apologises for the inconvenience this has caused, and we continue to work around the clock with UniSuper to fully remediate the situation, with the goal of progressively restoring services as soon as possible. We would like to stress again that this was an isolated incident and not the result of a malicious behaviour or cyber-attack, and that no UniSuper data has been exposed to unauthorised parties."

We’re here to help

Please get in touch with our contact centre should you require support or your question isn't covered in the frequently asked questions published on our website.

We will keep you informed of further updates daily as we get systems back online, and thank you again for your understanding, particularly with our team in the contact centre.

Yours sincerely,
Peter Chun
Chief Executive Office, UniSuper

In an update shared on our website and emailed to members, our Chief Executive Officer Peter Chun has confirmed that the progressive restoration of our member services will begin Thursday, 9 May 2024:

"As the Chief Executive Officer of UniSuper, I would like to provide an update on the disruption to our services.

Firstly, let me begin by personally apologising for the outage, and thank everyone for their patience with our teams as they work around the clock to progressively get our systems back online.

As always, our members are our top priority.

I would like to be very clear on some key points: member accounts are safe, and no data was exposed to unauthorised third parties as a result of this outage.

I would also like to reassure members that pension payments have not been disrupted and will continue as per normal. The next regular pension payment is scheduled on 15 May 2024, and is due in accounts by 17 May 2024.

We're here to help, so please get in touch with our contact centre should you require support or your question isn't covered in the frequently asked questions published on our website.

The progressive restoration of member services will begin Thursday, 9 May 2024. Please note that some services will still be limited as we continue the restoration.

Services that we expect to have online in some capacity will include the ability to login to online services, access Mobile App, and see balances—initially as at Monday, 29 April 2024. As regular trading and investments have been continuing as normal, this will be reflected in your balance once our systems have been restored.

We will keep members informed as systems progressively come online. I commit to members receiving updates on the progressive restoration of services, and again, thank you for your patience.

We have collated some frequently asked questions, including around lump sum withdrawals, investment switches and the operation of investments during this outage.

For up to date information, including answers to frequently asked questions, please visit our website:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/contact-us/outage-update

Regarding what caused the technology outage, many members have rightly asked what exactly happened.

Google Cloud continues to investigate and gather information on the nature of this incident which caused an outage to our systems.

Let me stress that Google Cloud has provided clear assurance that this was not the result of a malicious act or cyber-attack, and UniSuper data has not been exposed to unauthorised parties because of this issue.

While a full root cause analysis is ongoing, Google Cloud has confirmed this is an isolated one-of-a-kind issue that has not previously arisen elsewhere.

Google Cloud has confirmed that they are taking measures to ensure this issue does not happen again.

We take our responsibility to deliver secure, reliable services to our members extremely seriously. I would like to be clear that Google Cloud is not the only cloud service provider UniSuper utilises, and this planning has ensured our ability to restore services and minimise data loss.

To minimise further disruption to our members as we come back online, we are putting on additional resources to work through all enquiries and member requests as quickly as possible once systems are operational again.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding, particularly with our team in the contact centre, as we work to restore services swiftly, safely and securely.

Yours sincerely,
Peter Chun"

We would like to provide you with an update regarding the service disruption affecting UniSuper’s systems.

Firstly, we’d like to thank members for your patience and understanding, particularly on the phone with our contact centre as we seek to resolve this outage swiftly, safely and securely.

There has been positive progress as we seek to get systems back online. Significantly, there have been no impacts to pension payments to members, and for members in distress, we have been
able to provide assistance. We will continue to focus on getting our systems back online to serve our members as our top priority.

We are in the process of finalising how we are able to process member requests during this time in a way that is fair and equitable for members, as you expect and deserve. The mechanism for this
may vary with the type of request, and we will provide further details when we can.

We are standing up additional service availability to meet member needs, with our contact centre operating from 8.30am to 2.30pm AEST Saturday May 4. Our contact centre number is 1800 331 685.

While we are unable to give a timeline for restoration at this stage, we will continue to provide updates to members. We expect to be able to provide a further update at the beginning of next week. Meanwhile, updates will be made regularly on the website:

https://www.unisuper.com.au/contact-us/outage-update

Many members have rightly asked us some very straightforward questions, such as what has happened, and is my money safe?

To provide clarity, yesterday we were able to issue a joint statement with Google Cloud, the third-party cloud service provider from whom this outage originated.

This has been published at the above link, along with some of those frequently asked questions.

Importantly, again, in response to the question of safety and security, Google Cloud has confirmed that the disruption is an isolated incident, not the result of a malicious act or cyber-attack and UniSuper data has not been exposed to unauthorised parties as a result of this issue.

We continue to work in close partnership with Google Cloud to resolve this issue.

We thank you again for your understanding, and apologise for the disruption.

At UniSuper, we have a duty to ensure that our members have the best protection for them and their families.

This is why after an extensive tender process, designed to ensure we’re delivering the most possible value to members, we’ve decided to transition to MetLife Australia as our new insurer from 1 June.

This transition will allow us to better support our members during some of life’s most challenging moments.

Members are set to benefit from key enhancements, including the modernisation of default levels of cover at different life stages, more equitable premiums and improved terms and conditions to help members get better value from their cover.

Additionally, all members and their families, irrespective of their coverage, will have access to MetLife’s award-winning 360Health platform. This offers access to world leading health care professionals, assistance in returning to work, support for mental health issues and more.

We are committed to a true partnership that can deliver member-focused innovation, continued improvement to terms and greater levels of insurance participation.

For further information on the insurance change, visit https://www.unisuper.com.au/insurance/insurance-changes

UniSuper has committed up to USD400m to Macquarie Asset Management’s Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO), a fund that invests in large scale, mature sustainable technologies to support the transition to net zero and help meet sustainable energy needs in Australia and overseas.

It aims to provide diversified exposure to the global renewable sector with a growing pipeline of opportunities across geographies, technologies, power markets, renewable resources and asset lifecycle stages.

This is an investment of scale and quality that will enable UniSuper to invest in projects that we believe will generate attractive long term returns for our members. The investment supports our strategy to develop smart partnerships with high quality, aligned managers that complement our in-house investment capability.

We continue to work towards our objective to achieve net zero in our investment portfolio by 2050 and to contribute to Australia’s goal to achieve a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030.

Visit our website to find out more about this exciting investment:

https://lnkd.in/gBrfw2j2

Please note past performance is not an indicator of future performance. The information provided above is of a general nature only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the Product Disclosure Statements and Target Market Determinations relevant to your membership category on our website and your situation before making decisions, because we haven’t. Consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your personal circumstances and consider consulting a licensed financial adviser before making an investment decision based on the information provided above. Issued by UniSuper Limited ABN 54 006 027 121 the trustee of the fund UniSuper ABN 91 385 943 850.

As a fund that's committed to building greater retirements for all, supporting the women who make up our team and nearly 60% of our membership is a part of our every day.

This International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate some of UniSuper's incredible women in a special edition of our Super Informed Radio podcast. You can listen in to hear our Head of Marketing Leah Mackenzie interview both our Chief Financial Officer Anastasia Crisafi, and our Head of Capability, Dr. Shannon Lloyd.

Focusing on the experience of women in senior leadership roles, these interviews cover a range of topics that include balancing personal and professional lives, providing flexibility in the workplace, taking the time to hold up and support other women, growing and being proud of your team, believing in yourself, holding true to your values, and so much more.

Following the podcast, you can hear more from us on our International Women’s Day livestream next Wednesday.

Hosted by our Chief Executive Officer Peter Chun, this celebration of will feature Head of Women’s Football at Football Australia Sarah Walsh in conversation with our Chief Marketing Officer Danielle Murrie, and a speech from senior private Client Advisor Melinda Brown.

The podcast and the sign-up link for the livestream are both available on our website.

https://www.unisuper.com.au/campaigns/super-for-women