Industry funds have dominated the list of best local superannuation and pension funds in 2009, according to research firm SuperRatings.
AustralianSuper, Catholic Super, First State Super, HESTA, Hostplus, NGS Super, QSuper, REST, Sunsuper and Telstra Super were named the top 10 super funds, the company said.
It was the first time that First State Super and NGS Super have ever featured in the top 10 list.
Funds are assessed on over 400 qualitative and quantitative criteria including investments, fees, insurance, service delivery, member education, financial planning facilities, employer support and fund governance.
Despite all funds suffering negative returns over the past two years, SuperRatings managing director Jeff Bresnahan said some funds have performed significantly better than others through the various investment cycles of the past five years.
"This strong relative investment performance, which in some cases reflects a differential of over 6 per cent per annum between funds, combined with competitive fees and services has led to consumers in the named funds enjoying results far ahead of many other funds," Bresnahan said.
"At this point industry funds continue to dominate our best value for money fund list. Clearly there are a number of retail funds that offer good value.
"However, many funds, including some not-for-profit funds, have done little to assist Australians' retirement savings during these turbulent times."
BUSS(Q) Retirement Pension, Catholic Super Allocated Pension, First State Super Retirement Income Stream, QSuper Pension Account and Sunsuper Pension Option were named as the top five pension funds by SuperRatings.
"Having a good super product doesn't necessarily guarantee a strong pension product. However, there are a number of funds that offer strong end-to-end retirement solutions," SuperRatings chief operating officer Nathan Macphee said.
AMP Flexible Lifetime Super Easy, Individuum and Suncorp WealthSmart were named Australia's best super products.
Australia's most improved funds during 2008/09 were ASSET Super, ESSSuper, LGsuper, MasterSuper and OAMPS Super Fund.
SuperRatings reviewed over 450 different products, accounting for over $500 billion and 15 million member accounts, to compile its results.
