The reputation of retail superannuation funds appears to have taken a drubbing in the aftermath of recent Royal Commission hearings with the latest Roy Morgan data pointing to member satisfaction levels well below that of industry funds.
And, importantly, those with larger account balances appear happier with their industry funds.
The results from Roy Morgan show that in the six months to August, satisfaction with the performance of industry funds was well ahead of retail funds for all balances over $100,000, with 71.5 per cent satisfaction for industry funds ahead of 63 per cent for retail funds.
The Roy Morgan data showed that satisfaction with industry funds peaked at 84.9 per cent for those with balances over $700,000, well ahead of retail funds with 75.8 per cent.
It said that over the past 12 months, industry funds had an overall gain in satisfaction of 3.9 per cent ahead of the 0.9 per cent improvement for retail funds.
“The biggest improvement for industry funds was in the $700,000 plus segment where satisfaction improved by 6.4 percentage points, followed by the $100,000 to $249,000 and the under $5,000 segments that both improved by 3.7 percentage points,” the analysis said.
“Retail funds only showed improved satisfaction for balances below $250,000 and declining satisfaction for higher balances where 64.5 per cent of the superannuation funds are held.”
Commenting on the data, Roy Morgan industry communication director, Norman Morris said that despite significant adverse publicity given to the superannuation industry as a result of the Royal Commission, satisfaction with superannuation had actually improved over the last twelve months and is currently well above the average of the last decade.
“Superannuation satisfaction is a vital part of understanding the behaviour of members as it is unlikely that the majority will be actively engaged enough to be reading performance tables. It is more likely that it is how they feel regarding the performance of their fund that will ultimately determine their actions,” he said.
