The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has conceded it has never collected specific data on the issue of how commissions impact superannuation fund balances.
Responding to a question on notice from Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby, the regulator said it "does not collect data on commissions paid by superannuation funds as part of its current statistical collection".
Bushby had used a Senate Estimates Committee hearing to ask APRA officials whether they knew the degree to which commissions impacted superannuation fund balances.
"Do you have a feel for the percentage of funds that come in - particularly the retail funds - that attract commissions?" he asked.
The degree to which commissions affect superannuation fund balances represented a central element of the Industry Super Network's "compare the pair" advertising campaign, but was reliant on research from commercial ratings houses such as SuperRatings.
AustralianSuper has reported a 9.52 per cent return for its Balanced super option for the 2024–25 financial year, as markets delivered another year of strong performance despite the complex investing environment.
The profit-to-member super fund’s MySuper default option has returned 9.85 per cent for the financial year 2024–25.
Colonial First State (CFS) has announced solid double-digit returns for its MySuper balanced and growth equivalent funds during the financial year.
The super fund’s Future Saver High Growth option delivered an 11.9 per cent return for the financial year 2024–25, on the back of a diversified portfolio and actively managed investment strategy.