AustralianSuper and AMP fight for super's most wanted
Monday, 31 May 2010 12:10pm
Investors looking to move their funds from one super fund to another are most likely to choose AustralianSuper, followed by AMP, PSS and QSuper, new research shows.
According to CoreData's latest survey of 595 individuals, 9.9 per cent would consider moving their funds into AustralianSuper, if they had to move funds.
This is followed by AMP, government fund PSS and QSuper at 4.4 per cent each.
While AMP comes a "poor second" at only half the preference in this study, a separate CoreData research however shows they are the number one choice, not AustralianSuper.
In addition, AMP is set to intensify competition when it consolidated six of its core superannuation offering into two, with its latest low cost-entry level product, Flexible Lifetime SuperEasy [i.e. similar to a no-frills industry fund offering] as the core option within AMP Flexible Lifetime Super.
But for those who didn't make it to the top five super fund of choice, the survey found three key factors that would prompt fund members to switch: better investment returns (65.1 per cent), better fees (54.2 per cent) and better member service (31.6 per cent).
AustralianSuper already has the lead by virtue of its size. It is one of the largest industry superannuation funds in Australia, with more than 1 in 10 working Australians using its services.
AMP, however, dominates the super fund market, with the greatest number of respondents (7.5 per cent of 4,000 respondents) listing the corporate fund as their main super fund, CoreData found.
In this separate survey, AMP was closely followed by AustralianSuper (6.5 per cent) and Colonial First State (3.9 per cent).
CoreData has conducted several research studies to find out why members are largely unengaged to their super and what would change their attitude.
The researcher discovered in its latest survey that almost two-thirds of Australians did not actively select their main super fund themselves, and two-fifths admit they have more than one account with different providers - same results as previous industry studies.
In fact, one in 10 people have between three and five accounts.
Put another way, there is plenty of room for incumbents such as AustralianSuper and AMP to increase their market share as fund consolidation gains pace in the coming years post super reforms.
Ruth Liew
