Yahoo Finance The best super funds for property investors, millennials, and retirees
If you’re with a super fund that performs poorly or has sky-high fees, you could be more than $300,000 out of pocket by the time you retire.
And no two super funds are made the same: some are better than others depending on what you want to invest in and what stage of life you’re at.
SelectingSuper Awards – which analyses the performance of the best super funds in the Australian market – have just announced their 2018 winners.
These are the best super funds by performance and demographic:
The overall fund of the year winner went to HostPlus, which took the top spot or was a finalist for several other awards, such as Best Long Term Performance.
Millennials looking to switch should look to HESTA, who won the Best Millennial Super Product award, while retirees with CareSuper can feel confident about their super fund.
How is this assessed?
Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Rainmaker Information director of research Dunnin said a good product for millennials was one that delivered “good, reliable returns over the long run for fair value fees”.
“But they also need to have record of working with younger members, engaging with them and supporting their communities and industry,” he explained.
HESTA won this year thanks to their community engagement, their ethical investment, community health awards, and their involvement in “hugely important campaigns and initiatives” in support of younger members.
Meanwhile, a good product for retirees is one that “delivers strong consistent returns across the flagship asset class sectors” but also offers flexible ways for retirees to receive their money.
“Retirement don’t always do both in combination as well as you’d expect,” Dunnin told Yahoo Finance.
“CareSuper long term performance credentials mixed with their account based pension and various annuities solutions is why they won this year’s award.”
Super funds need to step their tech game up
The best super funds are proactively making moves to innovate, Dunnin noted.
“It’s also no surprise the top funds in Australia have an enviable track record in adopting new technology, lowering fees, and proactively working with their members’ industries and communities,” he said.
“But doing the core robust things well are even more important.”
Dunnin said that not all funds were the same, and warned that Aussies should check in with their super fund at least once a year to make sure their fund is still the right one for them and delivering strong returns.
“Choose wisely and members can be confident they will retire comfortably, but choose poorly and they could be missing out on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential retirement savings.”
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