The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) recently released a report on the assessment of 76 MySuper products. This report compared all 76 superannuation products against each other, taking into account super fees and investment performance of the last 7 years.
Whilst a large chunk of these products passed the test (84% of assessed superannuation products), a total of 13 super funds failed. These 13 products, listed below, hold a whopping collective $56 billion in Australian’s retirement funds;
• AMG Super — AMG MySuper
• ASGARD Independence Plan Division Two — ASGARD Employee MySuper
• Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund — LifetimeOne
• AvSuper Fund — AvSuper Growth (MySuper)
• BOC Gases Superannuation Fund — BOC MySuper
• Christian Super — My Ethical Super
• Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust — Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust
• Commonwealth Bank Group Super — Accumulate Plus Balanced
• Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme-Pool A — Balanced (MySuper)
• Labour Union Co-Operative Retirement Fund — MySuper Balanced
• Maritime Super — MySuper Investment Option
• Retirement Wrap — BT Super MySuper
• The Victorian Independent Schools Superannuation Fund — VISSF Balanced Option (MySuper Product)
APRA has mandated that all of the above super funds let their affected members know that their super has underperformed by sending them a letter in the mail.
Some of the above superfunds have stepped up to the plate in acknowledging their underperformance. For example, Colonial First State FirstChoice Employer Super has offered ‘Financial Advice Subsidy’ to their affected members. This means that Colonial First State will pay up to $3,000 for their affected members to meet with a financial adviser and have tailored advice provided to them.
I am a member of one of these superfunds – what should I do?
Given that the letter sent out by the underperforming super funds states “by earning 1 per cent higher net return over a 30-year period, you could be 20 per cent better off at retirement”, if you are in any of these super funds you should explore your options including comparing super funds in the marketplace.
The superannuation market is highly competitive and it would take a long time for you to;
• Read each super funds Product Disclosure Statement,
• Compare the super fees you pay vs alternative super products,
• Contrast the historical performance of your current super vs the alternative super products.
If you would like further assistance, please contact us on 1300-78-55-77 and we would be glad to help.
