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Bob HenricksEnergy industry superannuation fund ESI Super passed $3 billion in funds under management in late September, the fund announced.ESI Super chairman Bob Henricks attributed the recent fund growth to an increased net member contribution rate and promising investment returns, as well as post global financial crisis improvements in the market."Reaching the $3 billion mark has been a significant milestone for ESI Super given market volatility over the past six months, and it is reassuring to know the fund is making headway in an industry that was hit hard by the global financial crisis," Henricks said.Henricks also attributed ESI Super's growth to a recent strategic asset allocation review in May, which focused on bolstering after-tax returns and reducing costs.Much of that improvement could be attributed to the fund's investment manager, JANA, which reworked the fund's Australian equities configuration at a lower cost compared to the fund's previous arrangement, Henricks said.ESI Super is currently looking to merge with fellow energy industry super fund SPEC Super to create what would be a $3.6 billion fund, a process Henricks said was on track to be completed in March of next year.The merged fund would adopt SPEC Super's administration contract with IFAA and also utilise some of the resources from ESI Super's current in-house administration model, putting more resources into the fund's call centre while management tasks would be kept in-house, Henricks said.Over the past few months a lot of work had gone into the combined administration model, with staff from IFAA and ESI Super exchanging roles, and once the merger was complete it was hoped there would not be any need for redundancies, Henricks said.