Brighter Super

Brighter Super concentrates its private markets activity on secondaries — buying existing LP stakes in private equity, infrastructure, and real estate funds. This strategy reduces the J-curve effect, provides visibility into underlying assets before committing, and allows the fund to target specific vintage years and managers that match its liability profile. Public commentary from the fund's CIO Mark Rider has repeatedly emphasized secondaries as the primary vehicle for private market exposure.

Brighter Super was created in December 2021 through the merger of LGIAsuper and Energy Super, two Queensland-based industry super funds. LGIAsuper historically served local government employees, while Energy Super covered workers in the electricity and energy sectors. The combined fund now serves over 120,000 members, making it one of the larger non-APRA-pooled superannuation schemes in Queensland.

The Chief Investment Officer is Mark Rider, who oversees the fund's asset allocation and manager selection. Kate Farrar is the CEO, having previously led LGIAsuper and steered the merger that created Brighter Super. Specific named investment committee members or delegated portfolio managers are not publicly itemized in the fund's external communications.

Brighter Super accesses private markets primarily through secondaries — acquiring seasoned limited partnership interests in funds managed by external GPs. This means the fund typically does not lead direct company investments or co-investments outside of fund structures. The secondary focus allows the fund to gain exposure to mature portfolios where asset performance is already observable.

Unlike larger Australian super funds such as AustralianSuper that run expansive direct-investment programs alongside fund commitments, Brighter Super has publicly differentiated itself by making secondaries a central, strategic allocation tool rather than a peripheral portfolio operation. CIO Mark Rider has described secondaries as providing vintage diversification and reducing the negative cash-flow drag common in primary fund commitments — a posture uncommon among funds of Brighter Super's size cohort.