Retail funds close satisfaction gap
Current market volatility aside, retail superannuation funds have succeeded in narrowing the consumer perceptions gap with their industry fund counterparts on the back of rising share markets since the global financial crisis.
What is more, retail super funds have kicked away from industry funds in the so-called high value member segment, according to the latest data released by Roy Morgan Research.
The research, released this week, found that although industry funds lead retail funds overall for satisfaction, they are not ahead in the high value market (those with balances of $700,000 or more) where retail funds score 81.1 per cent compared to 77.6 per cent for industry funds.
And, according to the Roy Morgan analysis, this is the segment where competition is greatest from self- managed super funds (SMSFs) who now have a satisfaction rating of 85.8 per cent.
Commenting on the survey data, Roy Morgan Research industry communications director, Norman Morris said that with intense competition between retail super funds and industry funds, it was important to understand what fund members think regarding the financial performance of the two groups.
"It is ultimately the members who will decide where their funds are best directed," he said.
Morris said he believed it was of particular significance that industry funds now had only got a narrow lead in satisfaction over their retail rivals to the point where their strong market positioning on this has been largely dissipated.
"It is important to note that both groups face potential losses to self-managed funds from their higher value members if satisfaction levels decline," he said.
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