Our accumulation products come out strong
Every year, we’re required to assess the performance of our accumulation products, to determine if they’re promoting the financial interests of our members. Our accumulation products include Accumulation 1, Accumulation 2 and Personal Accounts.
We’re pleased to report that, after thoroughly assessing our accumulation products for the year ending 30 June 2020, we can confidently state that they are promoting our members’ financial interests.
This is great news for you, giving you assurance that your super is in good hands.
It’s important to understand that if you’re a member in these products and you haven’t actively made an investment choice, you would be invested in our Balanced investment option, as a MySuper member. Read our MySuper performance assessment.
How we shaped up
We assessed our accumulation products through two key areas (as prescribed by law): 1. How we compare on fees and returns (Comparison matters) and 2. Other member benefits (Assessment factors).
1. How we compare on fees and returns 1
Using data from third party research agencies, we compared the performance of our accumulation investment options to the rest of the industry. The results showed that our members have benefited from both low fees and strong investment returns.
Our fees are some of the lowest
Where comparison data was available, it showed our accumulation investment options had some of the lowest fees in the industry.
| UniSuper investment option | Fee ranking - $50,000 balance | Fee ranking - $250,000 balance |
|---|---|---|
| High Growth | 7 (out of 67) | 6 (out of 67) |
| Growth | 7 (out of 125) | 8 (out of 125) |
| Balanced | 4 (out of 153) | 1 (out of 153) |
| Conservative Balanced | 1 (out of 119) | 1 (out of 119) |
| Conservative | 4 (out of 143) | 2 (out of 143) |
Positive returns for our members
UniSuper was one of the top performing funds for the period ending 30 June 2020.
Despite the impact of COVID-19 on global markets, most of our members achieved positive returns for the year ending 30 June 2020. Our Balanced investment option provided a positive return - a stronger position compared to most other funds and, for the other options included in the SuperRatings industry survey, UniSuper consistently outperformed the average.
Graph 1: Investment performance - 1 year
This graph shows UniSuper's 1 year Investment performance vs the SuperRatings median.* Source: SuperRatings Pty Ltd Accumulation Fund Crediting Rate Survey for the appropriate index - June 2020
Graph 2: Investment performance - 3 years
This graph shows UniSuper's 3 year Investment performance vs the SuperRatings median.* Source: SuperRatings Pty Ltd Accumulation Fund Crediting Rate Survey for the appropriate index - June 2020
For the year ending 30 June 2020, members in our accumulation products benefited from both industry-leading low fees and stronger investment performance.
2. Other member benefits2
Our accumulation products were also reviewed based on all round value – the benefits of being a UniSuper member.
Profit-for-members
We're proud to be a profit-for-member fund. We don't pay our advisers commissions, and we don't pay shareholders dividends. In addition, we review our fees annually, across:
- different groups of members within the fund, to ensure our fees don’t favour any group, and
- the industry, to ensure our fees remain competitive.
We’re satisfied that we’ve met both goals.
Scale and efficiency
With over $90 billion of funds under management, you benefit from the scale of one of the largest super funds in Australia (5th largest by assets, as at 30 June 2020). Because of this, we’re able to provide services more efficiently, with one of the lowest operating costs in the industry. This means lower fees and greater value for members.
A range of options and services
With your membership comes:
- access to a great range of educational resources to help you manage your super, including online tools and calculators, videos, podcasts and webcasts
- an award-winning financial advice service - from general advice through to comprehensive personal advice, we can help you make the most of your money. We’re also on campus, bringing our services to you.
Investment strategy
We regularly review the investment strategy for our options to ensure the level of investment risk and the return target are appropriate. For the period ending 30 June 2020, we’ve determined they’re still appropriate for our members. Additionally, we can confirm that the investment objective for each of our options was met.
Responsible and sustainable investing
We’ve recently reached the milestone of $10 billion in funds under management across our three dedicated environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment options. As Australia’s largest super investor in ESG-themed investments, we play an important role in shaping how the companies we invest in respond to and address the threat of climate change.
We’re committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions in our investment portfolio by 2050, in alignment with the Paris Agreement.
We’re an award-winning fund
We’re known as one of Australia’s best super funds for our strong investment performance.* We’re proud to be consistently recognised as an award winning fund, including Chant West Best Fund: Advice Services 2020 and more recently, being awarded 2021 MySuper of the Year by SuperRatings.
Competitive insurance cover
We aim to provide you with appropriate and affordable insurance cover. Because we insure a lot of members, we’re able to negotiate premiums at group rates. Based on an assessment of member needs, we’re satisfied that, overall, our insurance strategy is appropriate, and our premiums are affordable.
We’ve also signed on to the Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice. This involves a complete review of our insurance offering, with the objective of ensuring high standards in the provision and delivery of benefits.
1. Other investment options are available but have not been included due to more limited comparison data. Please refer to our investment performance for more information on the performance of all of our investment options.
2. Although, in section 1, we were able to compare only some of our investment options with others in the industry because of data limitations, this section applies to all of our investment options.
*Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. This information is of a general nature only and includes general advice. It has been prepared without taking into account individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making any decision in relation to investing in UniSuper and/or your UniSuper membership you should consider your personal circumstances, the relevant product disclosure statement and whether to consult a licensed financial adviser.