Super funds which people join via an employer can be up to 50 per cent cheaper than a retail super fund.
That is one of the bottom line findings of the 2004-05 super fund bench-mark fee survey released last march by Rainmaker Information division, SelectingSuper.
Rainmaker Information’s director of research, Alex Dunnin said the fee survey could be helpful to fund members as it reconfirmed two important lessons about fund fees.
He said those lessons were that generally, super funds became more expensive as they got more sophisticated in terms of investment options and services, and that super funds like industry funds and corporate master trusts that people joined centrally through a workplace tended to be cheaper because they had greater buying power and could offer better fee discounts.
“Super funds you join through your workplace can be up to 50 per cent cheaper than if you were to join a personal super fund as an individual, and that can translate into money in your pocket,” Dunnin said.
He said that choice already existed with respect to buying super and to take advantage of choice consumers simply needed to learn a few basics.
Dunnin said super fund fees did not buy investment returns but, rather, they bought flexibility in terms of investment menus, and accessing a financial adviser.
