MELBOURNE, July 14 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank NAB.AX said on Thursday it had merged five of its pension funds into one, creating Australia's largest retail superannuation fund, with about A$70 billion ($53 billion) under management.
The move comes as Australia's conservative government looks to boost competition among funds in the world's fifth largest pension market, valued at $1.5 trillion.
NAB's push follows an agreement with Japan's Nippon Life NPNLI.UL to set up a life insurance business separate from NAB's superannuation and investments business.
"This work is strategically important and lays the groundwork for our planned A$300 million investment across our wealth activities in new wealth products and services for our customers and financial advisers," NAB Wealth group executive Andrew Hagger said in a statement.
($1 = 1.3154 Australian dollars)