ISN research - Industry super funds outperform retail funds

The Industry Super Network (ISN) has recently released an update for their research paper “A comparison of long term superannuation investment performance” that provides food for thought when choosing your super fund.

ISN’s Chief Economist Dr Sacha Vidler’s research shows that on average, retail super funds have underperformed not-for-profit funds (public sector, corporate and industry funds) by more than 2% per annum over the past 15 years (1996-2011)*.

Further, at 3.84% per annum over 15 years, average retail fund returns are lower than a naïve benchmark investment strategy (equal weightings in cash, domestic equities and foreign equities) after tax and costs, and even fall short of annual term deposits over the same period. The three not-for-profit sectors outperform these benchmarks.

 “Underperformance compounds over time with dramatic impact. Over the fifteen year period, if retail super funds had earned industry super fund returns, Australian retirement savings would currently be $75 billion higher.” - Matthew Linden, Chief Policy Adviser of ISN

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*Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future investment performance.