Most Australians have no idea how their super is actually performing. They know the balance goes up over time, they assume that means it’s working, and they move on. That assumption is costing many of them tens of thousands of dollars (sometimes more).
Your super fund is not just a savings account. It’s an investment portfolio managed on your behalf. And like any investment, the fund you’re in, the options you’ve chosen, and the fees you’re paying all have an enormous impact on where you end up.
The good news is that checking takes less than ten minutes. Here’s exactly how to do it.
Step 1 - Log into your super fund’s app or website
Every super fund in Australia has an online portal or app where you can view your account details. If you’ve never logged in before, you’ll need your member number - this is on any correspondence you’ve received from your fund.
Once you’re in, you’re looking for four key things:
Your current balance
Your investment option - what your money is actually invested in
Your annual return - how much your fund grew last year and over the past 5-10 years
Your fees - what you’re being charged annually
These four numbers tell you almost everything you need to know about whether your super is working for you.
Step 2 - Understand what you’re invested in
Most people are in their fund’s default investment option - usually called a “Balanced” or “MySuper” option. This is what the fund chose for you when you joined, and many Australians have never changed it.
The default option isn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t necessarily right for you either. Here’s a rough guide to what the main options mean:
Conservative - lower risk, lower return. More of your money is in bonds and cash. Generally suited to people close to retirement who can’t afford a market downturn.
Balanced - a mix of growth and defensive assets. The most common default. Moderate risk, moderate return.
Growth - higher allocation to shares, higher potential return, higher short-term volatility. Generally suited to younger investors with a long time horizon.
High Growth / Aggressive - mostly shares, highest potential return over the long term, most short-term volatility.
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you likely have 30-40 years until retirement. Short-term market dips are largely irrelevant over that timeframe. What matters is maximising long-term growth. Many young Australians are sitting in a Balanced or Conservative option when a Growth or High Growth option would serve them significantly better over decades.
This is not financial advice. It’s a framework for understanding your options. Always consider your own circumstances.
Step 3 - Check your returns
Your fund’s annual return is the clearest measure of performance. But one year of returns tells you very little. What matters is the long-term track record, typically measured over 5 and 10 years.
When reviewing your returns, compare them against:
1. Your fund’s own benchmark - most funds publish a target return. Are they hitting it?
2. Other funds in the same category - a Balanced option returning 6% per year looks concerning if the average Balanced fund is returning 8%.
3. Inflation - at a minimum, your super should be growing faster than inflation over the long term. If it isn’t, your real purchasing power is going backwards.
A consistently underperforming fund, year after year, is a serious problem. The difference between a fund returning 7% and one returning 9% over 30-40 years is not small. It can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars by retirement.
Step 4 - Look at your fees
Super funds charge fees to manage your money. These are often expressed as a percentage of your balance. Called the Management Expense Ratio (MER) or investment fee, plus sometimes a flat dollar admin fee.
Here’s why fees matter so much: they compound against you the same way returns compound for you. A fund charging 1.5% per year in fees versus one charging 0.5% doesn’t sound like much. Over 30-40 years the difference is significant.
What’s reasonable:
Admin fee: no more than $100 per year (Ideally around $70 to $80)
Investment fee: as low as possible - index-based options should cost well under 0.5% per year. Actively managed options charge more, but higher fees are rarely justified by better long-term performance.
Anything significantly above these figures warrants scrutiny. High fees need to be justified by strong, consistent performance. And in most cases, they aren’t.
How to compare - the YourSuper tool
The Australian government runs a free comparison tool at YourSuper Comparison Tool, that lets you compare super funds side by side on returns and fees.
This is the most objective starting point available. It uses standardised data across all funds so you’re comparing apples with apples.
Funds that are commonly cited as strong performers among industry funds include AustralianSuper, Hostplus, Australian Retirement Trust and Aware Super - but performance varies by investment option and year. Use the YourSuper tool to compare these and others based on your specific situation and investment option preference rather than taking any single source’s word for it, including this one.
What to do if your fund isn’t performing
If you’ve checked your returns, reviewed your fees, and concluded that your fund isn’t doing the job, you can switch. Changing super funds in Australia is straightforward and can be done online through your new fund’s website.
Before switching, make sure you:
Check for any exit fees
Consider any insurance you hold through your current fund
Keep your tax file number linked
The takeaway
Your super is likely your largest investment. Most Australians treat it as an afterthought. Something that just happens in the background. But a few minutes of attention now, and an informed decision about your fund and investment option, can make an extraordinary difference to where you end up.
Log in. Check the four numbers. Compare on the YourSuper tool. And if something doesn’t look right, know that you have the power to change it.
Future posts in this series will go deeper on industry funds versus retail funds, how fees compound against you over time, and the investment options inside your super that most people never think to look at.
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- The Financial Student