The Ballarat Catholic Development Fund (BCDF) and the Melbourne, Sale and Bunbury Catholic Development Fund (CDF) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a binding agreement to merge the two Funds. This comes after an extensive due diligence process, with the merger expected to take effect on 1 January 2024.
Both Funds have a 50+ year history of working together and sharing resources to offer customers in the respective Dioceses strong and competitive financial solutions. This merger will assist in delivering greater benefits to customers across one, larger Fund.
In recent years, mergers with Bunbury and Sale CDFs, have proven successful in delivering a range of additional benefits to their local communities. The expanded CDF will continue to meet local demands whilst maintaining a prudentially sound and sustainable Fund into the future and continue to make a positive impact toward delivering on the collective mission of the Church.
The Bishops of the Dioceses, together with the respective Boards and Executive Teams look forward to the new partnership and the potential it has to add value for customers and communities across the Diocese of Ballarat, Diocese of Bunbury, Archdiocese of Melbourne and Diocese of Sale.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
List of Services
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Why is Ballarat CDF merging with Melbourne, Sale and Bunbury CDF?List Item 1
A combined CDF will provide access to a broader range of products and services for customers, not currently available through Ballarat CDF on its own. Merging with a larger Fund will offer economies of scale related benefits to customers, who are Catholic organisations supporting the mission of the Church.
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Have other CDFs previously merged?List Item 2
The Bunbury CDF in Western Australia, and Sale CDF in Gippsland, Victoria, both merged with the Melbourne CDF. Both Bunbury and Sale CDF’s have retained a local presence and now offer a broader range of competitive products and services to their customers.
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Will Ballarat customers, be impacted by this merger?List Item 3
Customers will have access to a broader range of products and services available to them at competitive pricing. Importantly, they will be able to continue to enjoy the same personalised service from current staff who will remain at the Ballarat CDF office.
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Will Melbourne, Sale, or Bunbury customers, be impacted by this merger?List Item 4
Mergers contribute to achieving economies of scale, enabling continual improvement in the range of products and services available to existing and potential customers. Increasing the Fund’s prudential strength also contributes to supporting Catholic organisations and therefore the mission of the Church.
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Is the Ballarat CDF under financial stress?
The Ballarat CDF is prudentially sound and financially strong, however being part of a larger Fund will enhance its ability to attract new customers and offer a broader range of products and services.
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What will happen to the Ballarat CDF office?
To help support a growing regional community in Ballarat, the Melbourne, Sale and Bunbury CDF remains committed to maintaining a local presence for merged Funds. The continuing local presence in Bunbury and Sale has been successful and will therefore see the Ballarat CDF office remain open following the merger.
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Will the Ballarat Diocese merge with the Melbourne Archdiocese as part of the CDF partnership?
No, the Ballarat Diocese will continue to operate as an independent Diocese in Victoria continuing to serve the needs of the Ballarat Diocese. The CDF partnership will assist the Ballarat Diocese to continue to maintain a stable financial position into the future where it will continue to meet all its obligations as required. The CDF merger will also ensure that prudential requirements of the CDF continue to be robust and strengthen overtime in-line with community and regulatory expectations.
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CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the Catholic Development Fund ABN 15 274 943 760 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure. Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investors’ funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Dioceses of Sale and Bunbury. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
