HESTA superannuation | Performance, features and fees

An industry super fund with several investment options, competitive fees and an authorised MySuper product.

HESTA is an industry super fund dedicated to the health and community services sector and open to all Australians. As an industry fund, all its profits go to members, not 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.

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Alison Banney

Last Updated Mar 5, 2021

3.97%

Past performance - 1 year

7.88%

Past performance - 5 Years

$533.53

Annual fees on $50k balance

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Product Name	HESTA Balanced Growth
Past performance - 5 Years	7.88%
Annual admin fee	$76.47 + 0.118% of balance p.a.
Insurance included	Death,TPD,Income Protection
Number of members	880,000

Product Name	HESTA - Sustainable Growth
Past performance - 5 Years	8.61%
Annual admin fee	$65 + 0.1% of balance p.a.
Number of members	880,000

Performance figures quoted on this page are correct to December 2020, according to Chant West. Investment returns are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

Alison Banney

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Alison Banney is the banking and investments editor at Finder. She has written about finance for over seven years, with her work featured on sites including Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Dynamic Business. She has previously worked at Westpac, and has written for several other major banks including BCU, Greater Bank and Gateway Credit Union. Alison has a Bachelor of Communications from Newcastle University, with a double major in Journalism and Public Relations. She has ASIC RG146 compliance certificates for Financial Advice, Securities and Managed Investments and Superannuation. Outside of Finder, you’ll likely find her somewhere near the ocean.

What are the key features of HESTA superannuation?

Industry super fund. HESTA is an industry fund meaning all profits go back into the fund to benefit members, not shareholders. Industry funds have a reputation for having strong performance returns and low fees.
MySuper product available. HESTA offers a default MySuper authorised investment option. MySuper products are no-frills, low-fee options for Australians.
Up to 10 different investment options. Members can choose from 10 different ways to invest their super, based on their risk tolerance and how hands on they want to be.
Sustainable investment option available. HESTA offers a sustainable investment options, Sustainable Growth, for members who want their super to be invested more ethically.
Insurance fee-free cover while on parental leave. Parents can be eligible for up to 12 months of fee-free insurance cover while on parental leave.
Two income stream options. When you're ready to start accessing your super, you can access a Transition to Retirement (TTR) Income Stream or a Retirement Income Stream to receive regular payments from your super while the balance remains invested.

What investment options are available?

HESTA offers several different ways to invest, depending on your risk appetite and how involved you want to be. You can choose between five pre-made investment pools which offer ready made diversified investment options that are managed on your behalf. Or, you can choose between a range of single asset options to design your own investment portfolio.

HESTA makes superannuation easy by offering five ready-made investment pools to choose from. Simply select the strategy that suits you best and HESTA will do the rest. The Balanced Growth 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 five ready-made investment portfolios are detailed below.

Ready-made portfolios	Risk level	Investor type	Target asset allocation range
Balanced Growth (MySuper default option)	Medium to High	Ambitious	Australian shares: 17-37% International shares: 16-36% Private equity: 0-12% Alternatives: 0-15% Infrastructure: 5-25% Property: 3-20% Global debt: 5-25% Cash: 0-30%
Conservative	Low to Medium	Cautious	Australian shares: 5-20% International shares: 5-15% Alternatives: 0-15% Infrastructure: 2-15% Property: 2-15% Global debt: 20-40% Cash: 10-30%
Indexed Balanced Growth	High	Ambitious	Australian shares: 27-37% International shares: 38-48% Global debt: 15-25% Cash: 0-10%
High Growth	High	Very ambitious	Australian shares: 25-50% International shares: 25-50% Private equity: 0-15% Alternatives: 0-15% Infrastructure: 20-10% Property: 0-10% Global debt: 0-10% Cash: 0-25%
Sustainable Growth	High	Very ambitious	Australian shares: 23-43% International shares: 21-41% Private equity: 0-10% Alternatives: 0-15% Infrastructure: 0-20% Property: 0-20% Global debt: 5-25% Cash: 2-20%

This option is for more experienced investors who are comfortable being in control of their asset allocations. You can choose from seven asset classes, as detailed below.

Asset class	Performance in the past five years*	Target asset allocation range
Cash and Term Deposits	2.02% p.a.	Cash: 100%
Diversified bonds	4.40% p.a.	Global debt: 50-100% Cash: 0-25% Alternatives: 0-30%
Property and Infrastructure	9.30% p.a.	Cash: 5-15% Australian and international listed property and infrastructire: 85-95%
International shares	9.91% p.a.	Cash: 0-25% International shares: 75-100%
Australian shares	8.44%	Cash: 0-25% Australian shares: 75-100%

*Investment performance was correct as of 30 June 2019. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

What are the 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.

Example of annual fees based on $50,000 in the Balanced Growth fund (default option)

Annual admin fee: $76.47 plus 0.12% of balance.

Indirect cost ratio (including investment fees): 0.82%

Calculated annual cost on $50,000 balance: $533.53

*Fee data supplied by Chant West. For a more detailed breakdown of the fees and charges, including the fees and charges for alternative investment options, read the product disclosure statement (PDS) available on HESTA’s website.

What insurance cover is available?

Automatic death and income protection cover is applied to your account when you join. You can opt out of this if you wish when you join, or cancel at any time after your account is opened. You can also tailor it to better suit your needs. You can also apply for lump-sum total and permanent disablement (TPD) cover if you wish.

How do I join HESTA?

If you’ve decided that HESTA’s super account is right for you, you can apply online by filling out the application form.

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. If you don't make a choice your super will be invested in the Core Pool.
Insurance instructions. You’ll be asked if you’d like to opt out of or tailor the default insurance policies, as detailed above.

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2 Comments

Jodie
March 27, 2018

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?

finder Customer Care

May
March 27, 2018

Hi Jodie,

Thanks for your question.

Yes, aside from Hesta, you can compare other super funds using our comparison table. You may compare them in terms of Past Performance (1,3, and 5 years) and Calculated fees per annum on $50,000 balance.

If you click the More Info link, it will redirect you to another page dedicated to that particular super fund where you will find more details such as features and steps to apply. Once you have chosen a particular super fund, you may then click on the “Go to site” button and you will be redirected to their website where you can get in touch with their representatives for further inquiries you may have.

When choosing a super fund, I encourage you to review their Product Disclosure Statements and Terms & Conditions to see if it is the right option for you.

Cheers,
May

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HESTA superannuation | Performance, features and fees