The habitual underperformance of bank-owned retail funds hurts members and the Australian economy, Industry Super Australia (ISA) believes.
An ISA analysis found over a 19-year period, Australia's retirement savings pool would have been $105 billion higher if retail funds had matched industry super fund returns.
ISA chief executive, David Whiteley, said: "Bank-owned and retail super funds are a drag on Australia's retirement incomes and national savings".
ISA found the two key reasons for underperformance were investment philosophy, and fund structure and governance.
"Reform of the sector must be based on retaining a safety net of the best performing super funds for the estimated eight million workers that do not choose their own fund," Whiteley said.
"National super savings are worth $2 trillion and super investment is now a major driver of economic activity. The evidence is also telling us that a super system run only to benefit members would also deepen our capital base, boost the economy, and raise the living standards of retirees across the board."
A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in both public and private markets.
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.
Earlier this month, several Australian superannuation funds fell victim to credential stuffing attacks, which saw a small number of members lose more than $500,000.
Small- to medium-sized funds have become collateral damage in an "imperfect" model for super industry levies, a financial institution has said.