The satisfaction level of industry super fund members was 50.8 per cent, while the figure for retail superannuation funds was 45.5 per cent, according to the Satisfaction with Financial Performance of Superannuation in Australia report.
The research showed this has been the trend for the last 10 years. Industry funds were only marginally ahead of retail funds until 2007, but have generally increased their lead over retail funds since then.
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) were identified as having the greatest satisfaction at 71.6 per cent. Over the 10-year span of the survey, the level of satisfaction of SMSFs has generally been around 20 per cent higher than other fund types.
HESTA was the industry super fund with the highest satisfaction rate at 54.5 per cent, followed by Cbus at 52.2 per cent and AustralianSuper at 49.3 per cent. Among the major retail funds, the Westpac group was rated highest in satisfaction at 48.5 per cent, followed by the CBA Group at 47.7 per cent, while the AMP Group was the lowest scorer with a satisfaction level of 39.1 per cent.
Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan, said the retail sector would increasingly have to depend on its adviser network to retain customers, due to the ease of switching super funds and the increased rate of people using SMSFs.
“The relatively poor long-term performance of the retail funds, however, is of concern as there is a very clear fiduciary responsibility for financial planners to act in the best interest of their clients, and yet financial planners are more likely to direct their clients to retail funds,” said Mr Morris.
Mr Morris also said the level of fees and the poor investment performance of the retail sector and to a lesser extent the industry fund sector has driven people towards SMSFs.
He said measuring what people think about the financial performance of their fund is important, as this usually determines their action.
“Although there are various industry tables of performance and fees published, it is doubtful that a majority of people holding super would be aware of or understand these,” said Mr Morris.
The survey was based on more than 30,000 interviews per year over a 10-year period.
