An industry super fund with several investment options, competitive fees and an authorised MySuper product.
HESTA is an industry super fund, which means that all its profits go towards benefiting its members, not its shareholders. If you’d like your superannuation managed for you, you can choose from four main investment pools and let HESTA do the rest. Or, if you’d like more control, you can choose your own investment strategy from a range of asset classes. Read on to learn more about the different investment choices, fees and insurance options.
Investment options
HESTA offers several different ways to invest, depending on your feelings towards risk and how involved you want to be.
Option 1: Ready-made investment pools
HESTA makes superannuation easy by offering four ready-made investment pools to choose from. Simply select the strategy that suits you best and HESTA will do the rest. The Core Pool is HESTA’s default option for those who don’t select which strategy they’d prefer. This strategy is also the authorised MySuper product, enabling employers to make compulsory superannuation guarantee contributions to employees who haven’t chosen their own fund.
The four ready-made investment pools are detailed below.
| Investment pool | Investor type | Performance in the past five years* | Target asset allocation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Pool (MySuper default option) | Assertive | 10.33% p.a. |
|
| Conservative Pool | Defensive | 7.08% p.a. |
|
| Shares Plus | Aggressive | 11.78% p.a. |
|
| Eco Pool | Aggressive | 13.86% p.a. |
|
*Investment performance was correct as of 30 June 2017. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
Option 2: Choose your own investment
This option is for more experienced investors who are comfortable being in control of their asset allocations. You can choose between seven asset classes, as detailed below.
| Asset class | Performance in the past five years* | Asset allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 2.44% p.a. |
|
| Global bonds | 4.34% p.a. |
|
| Property | 9.00% p.a. |
|
| Infrastructure | 9.84% p.a. |
|
| International shares | 14.53% p.a. |
|
| Australian shares | 11.50% |
|
| Private equity | 13.02% |
|
*Investment performance was correct as of 30 June 2017. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
Fees and charges
With HESTA, you do not pay any entry fees, account set-up fees or exit fees, nor do you pay any fees for buy-sell spreads. You can also switch investment options at any time for free.
Admin fees
The HESTA super product has an annual admin fee of $65, which is deducted from your account in monthly installments. There is also an admin fee of 0.08% p.a. for the Core Pool and 0.10% p.a. for all other investment options on top of the flat $65 annual fee.
Additional fees: Indirect cost ratio and Investment fee
There is an investment fee and an Indirect Cost Ratio (ICR) fee applied to each investment option as a percentage of the account balance. These charges are deducted from your investment earnings before they’re applied to your account, and are as follows:
| Investment fee (total % p.a) | ICR (Total % p.a) | |
| Core Pool (MySuper) | 0.81 | 0.24 |
| Conservative Pool | 0.40 | 0.16 |
| Eco Pool | 1.05 | 0.27 |
| Shares Plus | 0.78 | 0.25 |
| Cash | 0.04 | 0.00 |
| Global Bonds | 0.30 | 0.32 |
| Property | 0.85 | 0.27 |
| Infrastructure | 0.93 | 0.12 |
| International Shares | 0.81 | 0.44 |
| Australian Shares | 0.36 | 0.30 |
| Private Equity | 4.66 | 0.30 |
For a more detailed breakdown of the fees and charges, read the product disclosure statement (PDS) available on HESTA’s website.
Insurance options
Automatic death and income protection cover is applied to your account when you register. You can opt out of this if you wish after your account is opened, or you can tailor it to better suit your needs. You can also apply for lump-sum total and permanent disablement (TPD) cover if you wish.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Industry super fund so profits go back to members not shareholders
- Authorised MySuper product available
- Up to 11 investment options available
Cons
- Online functionality less user-friendly than other funds
How do I apply?
If you’ve decided that HESTA’s super account is right for you, you can apply online by clicking the green "Go to Site" button at the top of this page. You’ll be securely redirected to HESTA’s website where you can complete your application in less than 10 minutes.
You will need to supply:
- Personal details. You’ll need to provide your personal contact details including your Australian residential address.
- Previous super fund details. If you’d like to consolidate an existing super fund with your new fund online, you will need to provide your current fund details.
You will need to select:
- Investment option. You’ll be asked to choose your investment option from those detailed above, so consider this before beginning your application.
- Insurance instructions. You’ll be asked if you’d like to opt out of or tailor the default insurance policies, as detailed above.
I just logged on to Mygov to realise that I have two super funds, Hesta being one of them. Do you have capacity on your website to compare Hesta with other specific super funds?
Hi Jodie,
Thanks for your question.
Yes, aside from Hesta, you can compare other super funds on this page.
Cheers,
May