Super funds with the lowest fees

Super fund fees are unavoidable, but how much you pay varies enormously. Fees differ by fund, investment option and the size of your balance. Even small differences can lead to greatly reduced retirement outcomes due to compounding.

Since the Banking Royal Commission and the Productivity Commission (PC) review of super, fees charged by super funds have been under scrutiny. The PC concluded that fees are “the biggest drain on net returns”, which is true even when percentage differences look small.

The PC estimated that an increase of just 0.5% a year in fees would reduce the retirement balance of a typical worker by a projected 12% – or around $100,000. That’s why it’s worth understanding where your fund ranks on fees.

Fees aren’t easy to compare

The PC also found that close to 60% of members don’t understand the fees and charges they’re paying, and unfortunately comparing super fund fees isn’t straightforward.

The fees charged by your fund are either a fixed dollar amount or based on a percentage of your balance, earnings or both, and are deducted from your super balance. Fees vary based on your account balance and the investment option you choose (such as Growth, Balanced or Conservative).

Your super fund must report all fees and costs in the product disclosure statement (PDS) for your chosen option and in your annual statement. You might also find a schedule of fees on your fund’s website. If in doubt, call your fund and ask them to explain how much you’re being charged.

How fees compare: Median benchmarks

The table below shows median total fees by risk category, including MySuper (default) options and median balances as at March 2026. There is no single ‘average’ super fund fee for the reasons mentioned earlier – fees vary substantially by category, fund and balance size.

We show fee data at two balance points: $50,000 and $500,000.

• A $50,000 balance is representative of a working-age member still building their super. At this level, a 1% fee costs $500 a year – money that would otherwise be compounding.
• A $500,000 balance is representative of a member approaching or in retirement. At this level, even a 0.1% fee difference costs $500 a year.

Fee percentages often look lower at higher balances because fixed-dollar administration charges become proportionally smaller as the balance grows. But the funds with the lowest fees at $50,000 are not always the same as those at $500,000, so both matter.

Risk category	Growth assets (%)	Median: $50,000 balance	Median: $500,000 balance
MySuper (all risk categories)	~73%	0.89%	0.77%
All Growth	96–100%	0.97%	0.81%
High Growth	81–95%	1.10%	0.86%
Growth	61–80%	1.05%	0.81%
Balanced	41–60%	0.96%	0.73%
Conservative	21–40%	0.90%	0.65%

Source: Chant West, March 2026. Actively managed options only. MySuper includes all options.

20 cheapest funds

The 20 cheapest super options across all investment categories are index options. Index funds – also known as passive funds – aim to track and replicate the performance of a market index such as the ASX 200 or a global equities benchmark. They do this by investing in all the underlying assets in that index rather than selecting individual securities, which significantly reduces management costs.

Since all 20 of the cheapest options are indexed, we have removed indexed options from the per-category tables later in this article. Those tables show the cheapest actively managed funds in each risk category.

20 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Total fee ($ per year)	Total fee (% per year)
Hostplus	Indexed Growth	$129	0.26%
AustralianSuper	Indexed Diversified	$137	0.27%
Hostplus	Indexed High Growth	$139	0.28%
Hostplus	Indexed Balanced	$139	0.28%
Hostplus	Indexed Conservative	$144	0.29%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	Index Growth	$145	0.29%
Hostplus	Indexed Stable	$149	0.30%
Hostplus	Indexed Defensive	$154	0.31%
Essential Super	Balanced Index	$155	0.31%
Essential Super	Diversified Index	$155	0.31%
Brighter Super	Indexed Balanced	$156	0.31%
Essential Super	High Growth Index	$160	0.32%
Aware Super	High Growth Indexed	$162	0.32%
Aware Super	Balanced Indexed	$162	0.32%
Rest Super	Growth Indexed	$173	0.35%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Conservative	$175	0.35%
Australian Retirement Trust	High Growth Index	$177	0.35%
Australian Retirement Trust	Balanced Index	$177	0.35%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index High Growth	$180	0.36%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Balanced	$180	0.36%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

The fee difference between indexed and actively-managed options is particularly striking at higher balances. Indexed options typically have a fixed or near-fixed administration fee, plus a very low investment fee. At $500,000, that fixed administration fee becomes a tiny fraction of the balance, which is why the percentage fees below look dramatically lower.

20 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Total fee ($ pa)	Total fee (% pa)
Hostplus	Indexed Growth	$219	0.04%
Hostplus	Indexed High Growth	$319	0.06%
Hostplus	Indexed Balanced	$319	0.06%
Hostplus	Indexed Conservative	$369	0.07%
Hostplus	Indexed Stable	$419	0.08%
Hostplus	Indexed Defensive	$469	0.09%
AustralianSuper	Indexed Diversified	$752	0.15%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	Index Growth	$910	0.18%
Essential Super	Balanced Index	$1,010	0.20%
Essential Super	Diversified Index	$1,010	0.20%
Rest Super	Growth Indexed	$1,028	0.21%
Essential Super	High Growth Index	$1,060	0.21%
Aware Super	High Growth Indexed	$1,152	0.23%
Aware Super	Balanced Indexed	$1,152	0.23%
Australian Retirement Trust	High Growth Index	$1,212	0.24%
Australian Retirement Trust	Balanced Index	$1,212	0.24%
Brighter Super	Indexed Balanced	$1,326	0.27%
Equip MyFuture	Index Diversified	$1,402	0.28%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced Low Cost	$1,406	0.28%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	Enhanced Index Conservative	$1,410	0.28%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

20 most expensive super funds

At a $500,000 balance, Hostplus Indexed Growth costs just $219 per year (0.04%). By comparison, the median actively managed growth fund at the same balance costs 0.81% – or $4,050 a year. That’s a difference of nearly $3,800 a year, before investment returns are considered.

Cheapest MySuper funds

The tables below show the ten cheapest MySuper options at $50,000 and $500,000 balances as at March 2026.

How this category compares:

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.77%	0.68%
Median	0.89%	0.77%
Upper quartile	0.98%	0.90%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest MySuper funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vanguard Super SaveSmart	Lifecycle Age 56†	0.56%
ANZ Staff Super	Balanced Growth	0.60%
Aust Retirement Trust – QSuper	Lifetime Focus Group 2†	0.64%
Bendigo SmartStart Super	Growth Index	0.68%
UniSuper	Balanced	0.70%
Superhero Super	MySuper Growth	0.73%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced Growth	0.73%
Virgin Money Super	LifeStage 1964–1968†	0.74%
Team Super	Balanced	0.75%
Brighter Super	MySuper	0.77%

Source: Chant West, March 2026. † Lifecycle fund.

10 cheapest MySuper funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vanguard Super SaveSmart	Lifecycle Age 56†	0.45%
Bendigo SmartStart Super	Growth Index	0.50%
Aust Retirement Trust – QSuper	Lifetime Focus Group 2†	0.52%
UniSuper	Balanced	0.53%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced Growth	0.58%
Prime Super	MySuper	0.59%
ANZ Staff Super	Balanced Growth	0.60%
Virgin Money Super	LifeStage 1964–1968†	0.63%
AustralianSuper	Balanced	0.65%
Essential Super	1965–69 Lifestage†	0.67%

Source: Chant West, March 2026. † Lifecycle fund.

Cheapest actively managed funds by category

The following tables show the ten cheapest actively-managed funds in each risk category. Index funds are excluded – they are listed separately above.

When SuperGuide publishes fee information, we group funds into five investment categories so that options are compared with others of a similar risk profile:

• All Growth (96–100% growth assets)
• High Growth (81–95% growth assets)
• Growth (61–80% growth assets)
• Balanced (41–60% growth assets)
• Conservative (21–40% growth assets).

As a general rule, the higher the proportion of growth assets, the higher the fees. This is because defensive assets such as cash typically carry lower management costs than equities or alternative investments.

All Growth (96–100% growth assets)

How this category compares (actively-managed options):

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.90%	0.61%
Median	0.97%	0.81%
Upper quartile	1.21%	0.90%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

5 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vision Super Saver	Just Shares	0.72%
ESSSuper	Shares Only	0.78%
Perpetual WealthFocus	Perpetual Global Allocation Alpha	0.90%
REI Super	Growth Plus	0.92%
NESS	High Growth	0.93%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

5 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vision Super Saver	Just Shares	0.44%
ESSSuper	Shares Only	0.52%
UniSuper	High Growth	0.61%
NESS	High Growth	0.64%
Hostplus	High Growth	0.75%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

High Growth (81–95% growth assets)

How this category compares (actively managed options):

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.92%	0.66%
Median	1.10%	0.86%
Upper quartile	1.25%	1.01%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
ANZ Staff Super	Aggressive Growth	0.52%
GESB West State Super	Growth	0.77%
Team Super	High Growth	0.79%
Australian Food Super	Growth	0.79%
AustralianSuper	High Growth	0.84%
ESSSuper	Growth	0.85%
PSSap	Aggressive	0.87%
Vision Super Saver	Growth	0.88%
Brighter Super	Growth	0.89%
GESB Super	Growth	0.90%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Australian Food Super	Growth	0.46%
ANZ Staff Super	Aggressive Growth	0.52%
GESB West State Super	Growth	0.52%
ESSSuper	Growth	0.59%
Vision Super Saver	Growth	0.60%
AustralianSuper	High Growth	0.61%
UniSuper	Growth	0.63%
Prime Super	Managed Growth	0.64%
Team Super	High Growth	0.64%
GESB Super	Growth	0.65%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

Growth (61–80% growth assets)

How this category compares (actively managed options):

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.94%	0.71%
Median	1.05%	0.81%
Upper quartile	1.21%	0.96%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
ANZ Staff Super	Balanced Growth	0.60%
ESSSuper	Balanced Growth	0.66%
Team Super	Balanced	0.83%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced Growth	0.86%
AustralianSuper	Balanced	0.88%
UniSuper	Balanced	0.89%
GESB Super	My GESB Super	0.90%
Brighter Super	Balanced	0.90%
BUSSQ	Balanced Growth	0.93%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	CFS Balanced	0.93%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
ESSSuper	Balanced Growth	0.40%
UniSuper	Balanced	0.53%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced Growth	0.58%
Prime Super	MySuper	0.59%
ANZ Staff Super	Balanced Growth	0.60%
AustralianSuper	Balanced	0.65%
GESB Super	My GESB Super	0.65%
Team Super	Balanced	0.68%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	CFS Balanced	0.70%
NESS	MySuper	0.71%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

Balanced (41–60% growth assets)

How this category compares (actively managed options):

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.89%	0.65%
Median	0.96%	0.73%
Upper quartile	1.09%	0.88%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB West State Super	My West State Super	0.70%
Team Super	Moderate	0.79%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced	0.82%
ESSSuper	Balanced	0.83%
GESB Super	Balanced	0.83%
Brighter Super	Conservative Balanced	0.83%
AustralianSuper	Conservative Balanced	0.84%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	CFS Moderate	0.89%
Cbus	Conservative Growth	0.90%
Aware Super	Conservative Balanced	0.90%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB West State Super	My West State Super	0.45%
Vision Super Saver	Balanced	0.54%
UniSuper	Conservative Balanced	0.55%
ESSSuper	Balanced	0.57%
GESB Super	Balanced	0.58%
AustralianSuper	Conservative Balanced	0.61%
First Super	Conservative Balanced	0.64%
Team Super	Moderate	0.64%
Super SA – Triple S	Moderate	0.65%
CFS FirstChoice Employer	CFS Moderate	0.66%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

Conservative (21–40% growth assets)

How this category compares (actively managed options):

Benchmark	$50,000 balance	$500,000 balance
Lowest quartile	0.79%	0.57%
Median	0.90%	0.65%
Upper quartile	1.02%	0.78%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest super funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
ANZ Staff Super	Cautious	0.47%
Aware Super	Defensive	0.64%
GESB West State Super	Conservative	0.64%
Team Super	Defensive	0.73%
ESSSuper	Capital Stable	0.74%
BUSSQ	Defensive	0.74%
AustralianSuper	Stable	0.75%
GESB Super	Conservative	0.76%
Vision Super Saver	Conservative	0.76%
Brighter Super	Stable	0.78%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest super funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB West State Super	Conservative	0.39%
Aware Super	Defensive	0.44%
ANZ Staff Super	Cautious	0.47%
ESSSuper	Capital Stable	0.48%
Vision Super Saver	Conservative	0.48%
Prime Super	Conservative	0.49%
GESB Super	Conservative	0.51%
AustralianSuper	Stable	0.52%
UniSuper	Conservative	0.56%
Australian Food Super	Capital Stable	0.57%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

Fees are not the whole story

While low fees grab the headlines, it’s important to remember that net investment returns after fees are what matter most in the long run.

A fund with slightly higher fees may still deliver stronger net returns if its investment performance is good enough to compensate.