Australia’s top 5 super funds for most satisfied members

A new report from Investment Trends, the 2020 super fund Member Sentiment and Communications Report, takes a look at the attitudes of Australian super fund members and their satisfaction with their retirement savings service provider.

It’s a unique time to compile such a report, in the midst of a pandemic and after the mass sell-off that occurred across markets in February, March and April.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that Australian super fund members are slightly less satisfied with their super funds than they have been in previous years.

But it’s only a “marginal” decline, considering both the turmoil that’s been borne from the pandemic and recent legislative changes.

Across all super funds surveyed, a composite satisfaction score of 67 per cent was recorded – a drop of just 1 per cent from the last report’s 68 per cent composite score.

According to Investment Trends senior analyst King Loong Choi, “Super funds have done well to maintain member satisfaction levels despite unprecedented macro headwinds.”

He said, “At the industry level, the communications provided by super funds during the pandemic have been effective in lifting satisfaction ratings and reducing associated satisfaction gaps.”

But he did concede, “There is still room to improve the frequency and quality of communications outside of annual statements.”

So who are the top performers?

Here are the top five highest-rated super funds in Australia at this time, based on member satisfaction:

1. ESSSuper

ESSSuper has held on to its number one ranking in 2020, with a satisfaction score of 82 per cent.

More than half of its members rated it as “very good”, while a further 37 per cent rated it as “good”.

2. UniSuper

UniSuper has also held on to its ranking over the past 12 months, with four in five members indicating they are satisfied with the super fund’s service.

UniSuper saw 49 per cent of members rate the fund as “very good”, while 37 per cent of members classed it as “good”.

3. Australian Catholic Super

Australian Catholic Super has overtaken fourth-placed Cbus for the third best ranking in this year’s report. It saw 40 per cent of members rate the fund as “very good”, while a further 44 per cent classed its services as “good”.

4. Cbus

Relegated to fourth place in this year’s report, Cbus still saw some strong results, with 41 per cent of members rating the fund as “very good” – which actually rated it higher than Australian Catholic Super.

It was dragged down slightly by “good” responses, with 39 per cent of members classing the super fund in that way.

5. QSuper

Rounding out the top five is QSuper, which saw 37 per cent of its members consider the fund as “very good”.

A further 46 per cent rated the fund as “good” – giving QSuper the greatest “good” rating across the top five funds.