Superannuation fund satisfaction was at 63.6% in May, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, but was an increase of 2.9 percentage points from May 2019 thanks to the bounce-back in the Australian share market, according to Roy Morgan.
The research house found the largest increase from last year by sector was for retail funds that increased 2.2 percentage points to 58.7%. Industry funds were up 1.9 percentage points to 64.4%, and public sector funds were up 1.6 percentage points to 72.7%.
Self-managed superannuation funds were the only sector to record a decrease in satisfaction over the year, down 1.9 percentage points to 72.3%.
Unisuper had the highest customer satisfaction rating of the industry funds, followed by CARE Super, AustralianSuper, Cbus, First State Super, HOSTPLUS, Tasplan, HESTA, and Sunsuper.
Colonial First State had the highest rating for retail funds followed by OnePath, MLC, BT, and AMP.
Roy Morgan chief executive, Michele Levine, said: “Australia’s superannuation funds have been in the spotlight in recent months as at least 2.5 million Australians in financial hardship have applied for early release of up to $10,000 in superannuation.
“As these withdrawals have been taking place, overall customer satisfaction with super funds has taken a hit and is now at 64.6% in May, down slightly on April. However, this still represents an increase of a significant 2.9% points on a year ago.
“The relatively high customer satisfaction rating of Australia’s super funds during this uncertain period is due to the significant bounce-back in the Australian share-markets. The ASX 200 Index bottomed at 4,564 points on March 24 as restrictions were being introduced, but by the end of May it had increased by nearly 30% to close the month at 5,851.”
Satisfaction with financial performance of different type of super funds
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, December 2018 – May 2019
