Best super funds

While it's not the only factor to consider, past investment performance is a key thing to look at when choosing a super fund. In a nutshell; high performance returns will help your super balance grow bigger (and quicker!) than it would with lower returns. Investment performance is the result of a few different factors including the fees charged by the super fund (as fees eat into investment returns) and the fund's investment strategy. In theory, a high growth super fund should deliver better returns over the long term than a balanced or conservative fund.

However, a high growth fund also increases the chances of more volatile returns in the short term. For this reason, you can't declare one single super fund product as the best-performing fund as you wouldn't be comparing apples with apples.

Instead of looking at every single super fund investment option in the market, let's take a look at the best-performing growth super funds. Growth funds are where the majority of Australians have their super invested. Growth funds are usually the default investment option when joining a super fund, and are often the Balanced or MySuper products.

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AustralianSuper - Pre-mixed, Balanced option

AustralianSuper is an award-winning industry super fund and the largest super fund in Australia. The Balanced fund invests in a mix of different assets like shares, property and cash.

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Top 10 best-performing growth super funds

The table above looks at growth super funds only (super funds with 61-80% allocation to growth assets). The data is according to Chant West. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and not a guarantee of future returns.

You should always look at fees along with investment returns when choosing a super fund. This is because the fees you pay will impact the returns you get, as fees are deducted from returns. So lower fees means higher returns!High investment returns are definitely a big plus, but future investment returns are never guaranteed. Fees, on the other hand, are fixed and are within your control. By opting for a fund with low fees, you know you won't be paying too much even when investment markets are volatile and returns are lower.

So, what is considered to be a low-fee fund? The general idea is annual fees of less than 1% of the balance you've got invested are considered to be relatively low. For example if you had $100,000 invested, you should aim to keep you annual fees below $1000.

If you're looking for a MySuper fund with low fees, here's our pick.

💬 Finder's super fund pick for low fees

QSuper's default investment product, QSuper Lifetime, is our top pick for a low-fee MySuper product. It charges consistently low fees across all life stages and balance tiers. Young members with a balance of $5000 will pay less than $50 in fees for the full year.

As well as low fees, QSuper Lifetime has also delivered competitive investment returns for members over the long term (and its low fees have certainly helped keep returns high). In fact, leading super research firm Chant West named QSuper of its Best Fund: Investments 2020 award saying: "QSuper had a smaller allocation to equities and larger allocation to bonds, and it's helped them smooth the volatility of their investment performance in recent times. QSuper's investment model was designed to protect members in times just like this."

See how we picked this.

What about low-cost index super investment products?

You can pay even less in fees if you opt for an indexed investment option for your super. An indexed investment option invests in a mix of index funds (or exchange traded funds). An index fund tracks the performance of a whole index, for example the ASX200 or the NASDAQ, in one single trade. This is instead of buying each of the shares within the index individually which could be hundreds of different trades.

Because index funds simply mirror an established index, they are often passively managed and are therefore much cheaper to invest in. However, you often won't have exposure to other asset classes like non-listed assets (for example infrastructure), alternative assets or fixed interest. For this reason, indexed super investment options are usually higher risk than the default growth or balanced options, as they're less diversified.

Some of the best low-fee indexed super options include:

Some super funds offer a lifecycle or lifestage investment strategy as their default option for members. These products invest your super in a mix of asset classes in line with your age. The purpose of this is to ensure you're always taking on an appropriate amount of risk for your age. For example, lifecycle investment products will have a higher allocation towards high-risk growth assets like shares while you're young, and gradually decrease your exposure to shares as you get older. By the time you're ready to retire, your super will have a much greater allocation towards low-risk, defensive assets like cash and fixed interest in order to protect your nest egg from market volatility.

In comparison, a standard balanced or growth super investment option will invest in the same mix of asset classes for all members, regardless of your age.

If you like the idea of a super fund that invests your super in a mix of assets according to your age, here's our pick.

💬 Finder's super fund pick for lifestage or age-based investing

Virgin Money Super's default super product, Lifestage Tracker, is our top pick for a lifestage investment strategy. It offers 15 different lifestage investment allocations within the one product, while many others only offered a few different life stages. If you invest your super with Virgin Money Super Lifestage tracker, your investment allocation mix will be slightly readjusted every five years in line with your age.

As well as having lots of investment stages, Virgin Money Super Lifestage Tracker charges some of the lowest fees in the market, and has impressive past investment returns.

See how we picked this.