Best ethical fund
Green Company
Australian Ethical Super is certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia.
Best super funds
We've analysed the fees and performance of 50+ funds to find you some of the best super funds in Australia for 2022.
Best long-term returns
Finder Award
AustralianSuper Balanced has the best 10 year returns of all default MySuper products to June 2021.
Best lifestage fund
Virgin Money Super LifeStage Tracker has 15 different lifestage options within it, plus low fees and high returns.
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Switching to a top-performing super fund can help you retire with a lot more money. However, the best super fund for you isn’t necessarily the one with the best performance. You should also consider how the fund invests your money and if it aligns with your risk appetite and ethical values.
There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ super fund, which is why our top picks cover a range of different preferences; top-performing super fund, top ethical super fund, top industry super fund and top life-stage super fund.
Find the best super fund for you
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*Past performance and fee data is for the period ending December 2021.
What's the best super fund?
Generally, a great super fund has the following features:
- A history of high long-term returns (10-year returns)
- Low fees (aim for annual fees less than 1-1.5% of your super balance)
- An investment strategy that aligns with your age, risk tolerance, goals and personal values
There's no one super fund that is 'best' because we all want different things with our super. Instead, here are some of Finder's best super fund picks based on different features.
💬 Finder's pick: Best-performing super fund
Our pick for the best-performing super fund is AustralianSuper Balanced. This fund is the best-performing growth super fund over the last 10 years. Over the past decade, AustralianSuper Balanced achieved a return of 10.70% p.a. for members.
💬 Finder's pick: Best industry super fund
Our pick for the best industry fund is UniSuper. UniSuper's default super option, UniSuper Balanced, is among the 3 top-performing growth funds over the last decade with a return of 10.60% p.a. UniSuper also has some of the lowest fees of all the industry super funds and offers a range of different investment options to choose between, including an ethical option.
💬 Finder's pick: Best ethical super fund
Our pick for the best ethical super fund is Australian Ethical Super. It's one of just a handful of super funds to be certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia and the winner of a Finder Green Award. It's also among the 10 top-performing growth funds with a return of 9.80% p.a. over the last decade.
💬 Finder's pick: Best life-stage or age-based super fund
Virgin Money Super LifeStage Tracker offers 15 different life-stage investment allocations within 1 product, so your investment allocation is readjusted every 5 years in line with your age. Most other life-stage super products in the market only offer a few different life-stages within their product. Virgin Money Super LifeStage Tracker also charges some of the lowest fees in the market with impressive past performance returns.
10 top-performing super funds
The table below shows the top 10 growth super funds based on 10-year return, per annum to December 2021.
| Super fund | 10-year return |
|---|---|
| AustralianSuper Balanced | 10.7% |
| Hostplus Balanced | 10.7% |
| UniSuper Balanced | 10.6% |
| Cbus MySuper | 10.3% |
| VicSuper MySuper | 10.2% |
| Australian Retirement Trust Balanced (previously Sunsuper) | 10.2% |
| Aware Super Growth | 9.9% |
| CareSuper Balanced | 9.8% |
| Australian Ethical Super Balanced | 9.8% |
| CFS FirstChoice Growth | 9.8% |
The table above looks at growth super funds only using data from Chant West. Growth funds have 61-80% allocation to growth assets and are where the majority of Australians have their super invested.
"The typical long-term return objective for growth funds is to beat inflation by 3.5% p.a., which translates to about 5.5% to 6% p.a.," said Chant West senior investment research manager Mano Mohankumar.
According to Chant West the average real return for super funds since 1992 is around 5.8%. These top 10 super funds in the table above have greatly out-performed this average return all achieving around 10% p.a. or more over 10 years. (Remember, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.)
Benefits of a top-performing super fund
High returns will help your super balance grow bigger (and quicker!) than it would with lower returns.
However, performance isn't the only thing to think about when choosing a fund. You might decide the right fund for you is one that invests ethically, even though it may not be a top-performing fund.
How to pick the best super fund for you
There's no one super fund that is best for everyone (sorry!). Look for a fund with low fees and strong investment returns but also consider the following:
- Your age. If you're young, you might want a super fund that has a bit more exposure to high-growth assets like shares and property. These assets offer higher capital growth over the long term so are best for members with a long timeframe.
- Your risk tolerance. Regardless of your age, you should invest your super in a fund that aligns with your personal risk tolerance. If having the majority of your super invested in high-risk assets like shares is going to keep you awake at night, you might want to consider a balanced fund instead of a high-growth fund.
- Your investment preferences. There are specialty funds that suit investors with particular preferences. For example, Spaceship has a strong preference for international technology stocks.
- Your personal values. If you don't want your super to be invested in industries like coal, fossil fuels, animal cruelty or ammunition manufacturing, you might want to consider an ethical super fund.
What's the best super fund for my age group?
While you're young (under 45-50) it's generally recommended you have your super in a Growth or High-Growth fund. These funds have more exposure to growth assets including shares, private equity and property, and less exposure to defensive assets like cash.
🔥 Taking on more risk while you're young
Alison Banney, superannuation editor
"Investing in more growth assets means you'll have more of your super invested in Australian and international shares. Shares are one of the most volatile asset classes, meaning they rise and fall a lot, but they also tend to out-perform other assets in the long term. When you're young you have plenty of time for your super to recover after short-term market falls and the most to gain for long-term growth."
Some top-performing High Growth super funds include:
- Aware Super High Growth
- AustralianSuper High Growth
- Cbus High Growth
- HESTA High Growth
When you're a bit older (50+) you could consider moving your super from a High Growth fund to a Balanced or Conservative fund, to reduce your exposure to shares as you get closer to retirement.
Some super funds offer a life-cycle or life-stage investment strategy. These products invest your super in a mix of asset classes in line with your age, and continually adjust your investments as you get older so you don't have to switch between options.
Some life-stage super funds include:
- Virgin Money Super Lifestage Tracker
- Australian Retirement Trust Lifecycle Balanced
Ready to switch to a better super fund? Here's how to change super funds in 4 steps. Still not quite sure how to pick the right fund? Our detailed guide on how to compare super funds is a good place to start.
How we choose our super fund picks
We rely on our proprietary algorithm to get our top super fund picks. Developed by Finder's data scientists and superannuation experts, our algorithm compares the default product offered by more than 50 superannuation funds.
Our algorithm does not look at every superannuation product available in the market. We have excluded the additional super investment products offered by funds outside of their default product. The default product is where the majority of Australians have their super invested. The performance, fees and investment data for these products are supplied to Finder by leading super research group Chant West.
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