In this guide
When comparing and selecting super funds, investment performance and low fees are necessary but not sufficient. You can find many articles on SuperGuide about the top-performing or cheapest super funds (see the list at the end of this article), but your search shouldn’t end there.
The major super research houses Chant West and SuperRatings have long recognised this, so they use their annual awards to draw attention to the super and pension funds that deliver not only on investment performance and fees but also go further in their ongoing focus on members.
This may be due to the education and advice services the super fund provides, or innovative investment options. It could be cost-effective insurance or top-notch customer support. What’s certain is it won’t be one thing, but a combination of factors that make one super fund stand out from the pack.
Even then, the overall winner of fund of the year may not be the one for you. For example, if you are looking for a pension fund then that subcategory will be of most interest. You should also be wary of making a decision about the right fund for you based on one award. If more than one research house gives a particular fund a gong for best in category, then it may be worth looking at more closely. If a fund has a track record of accolades over many years, even better.
Despite the bad press super funds sometimes get, ultimately they are legally obliged to act in the best interests of their members. The best super funds use that principle to continually improve their services.
In this article we report the funds of the year as chosen by Chant West and SuperRatings going back to 2015. For the latest year we’ll also list all the winners in other categories.
Funds of the year: 2025 winners
SuperRatings was the first cab off the rank to announce its 2025 awards for overall excellence. In its annual awards ceremony on 30 October 2024, SuperRatings named Aware Super as its Super Fund of the Year.
Chant West announced its 2025 winner on 21 May 2025, awarding UniSuper with its top gong.
Aware Super
SuperRatings
Super Fund of the Year 2025
UniSuper
Chant West
Super Fund of the Year 2025
Chant West
UniSuper and Aware Super dominated both award nights this year, winning Chant West’s two major awards – Super Fund of the Year and Pension Fund of the Year respectively.
As well as being named Super Fund of the Year, UniSuper won two other awards – for Insurance and Responsible Investment. Aware Super took home three other awards in addition to Pension fund of the Year – Member Services, Investments, and Advice Services.
Chant West general manager Ian Fryer says the key to UniSuper’s success is its strong investment team and its preparedness to evolve its thinking.
“Despite its great success in listed markets over the years, it has developed deeper expertise in unlisted markets in recent years. It has a unique approach to portfolio construction, with a focus on thematics, and adopts more active tilts based on sector, region and country than most other funds,” says Fryer.
UniSuper also has a large team of super consultants and advisers to help members where they work, backed up by a very good member app. Fryer says its insurance offering is also strong, with premiums about one-third less than the median and other features that helped it take home the Insurance category award.
Aware Super was a close runner-up for Super Fund of the Year. Fryer says it has a strong investment team and differentiated property and infrastructure portfolios.
“Its default insurance is a needs-based lifestage design and premiums are good value, falling 20% over the past year. Its digital MyRetirement Planner is a great tool and about 20 advisers provide intra-fund advice and 70 provide comprehensive advice.”
SuperRatings
SuperRatings executive director Kirby Rappell also pointed to big changes made by Aware Super in recent years, which not only earned it Fund of the Year but also the winner of three sub-categories – MyChoice Super Fund of the Year, Best Digital Offering and the Smooth Ride award.
Rappell says Aware Super has good tools, apps, digital experience, service quality and advice, all of which are designed to support members across its default, choice and retirement products. Smooth ride refers to the in-built protection to deal with market volatility.
Aware Super was only just pipped at the post in the Lifetime Returns category, ultimately won by Australian Retirement Trust (ART). This award measures risk-adjusted returns across a member’s life from age 22 to 67, which allows for direct comparison of default lifecycle and single strategy options. ART has a default lifecycle option.
Hostplus, which now has several index options, won the low-cost award (again), while HESTA won the net benefit category. Rappell says net benefit refers to net returns, or total earnings less total fees, with the fund’s Sustainable Growth option especially strong.
Funds of the Year: 2013 to 2025 winners
In the table below you can find the Fund of the Year over the past decade. As noted earlier, Chant West announced its 2025 Fund of the Year in May 2025, while SuperRatings looks a year ahead and announced its 2025 winners in October 2024.
UniSuper has won nine top gongs over the years, followed by Sunsuper with five. QSuper (which has merged with Sunsuper to form the Australian Retirement Trust) has won three times, while Aware Super now has two wins under its belt. AustralianSuper, Hostplus and TelstraSuper have each had one overall win.
It’s notable that all funds are industry funds, except for TelstraSuper, which is a corporate fund for Telstra employees, although retail funds are beginning to pop up more frequently in the category awards (below). UniSuper, Aware Super and QSuper began as public sector funds but are now available to the general public.
| Year | Chant West | SuperRatings |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | UniSuper | Aware Super |
| 2024 | Aware Super | UniSuper |
| 2023 | UniSuper | Hostplus |
| 2022 | UniSuper | UniSuper |
| 2021 | AustralianSuper | QSuper* |
| 2020 | Sunsuper* | Sunsuper* |
| 2019 | UniSuper | UniSuper |
| 2018 | Sunsuper* | Sunsuper* |
| 2017 | Sunsuper* | QSuper* |
| 2016 | UniSuper | QSuper* |
| 2015 | UniSuper | TelstraSuper |
Sources: Chant West and SuperRatings
*now part of Australian Retirement Trust
Other award winners for 2025
As previously mentioned, besides the Fund of the Year, each research house also awards funds for excelling in areas such as pensions, sustainability and innovation.
Chant West has included a new category for Digital Advice, given the growing wave of Australians retiring each year and the shortage of advisers and affordability issues for low-balance members.
The inaugural winner was Hostplus, which uses videos and interactive graphics to help members choose an investment option, set a retirement income goal and track progress, and how to optimise pre- and post-tax contributions. It also has an insurance needs module.
Also of note is AMP MyNorth Lifetime winning Chant West’s Lifetime products category for the second year running. While products that pay income for life have been discussed by Treasury, regulators and the industry, progress has been slow. AMP and runner-up Australian Retirement Trust’s Lifetime Pension both provide lifetime income with favourable Age Pension treatment that are typically used alongside an account-based pension.
Fryer says members who take up AMP’s MyNorth Lifetime Pension have income payments that are on average 50% higher than other members.
Chant West
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Pension Fund of the Year | Aware Super |
| Advised Product of the Year | AMP MyNorth |
| Corporate Solutions Fund of the Year | Australian Retirement Trust – Super Savings |
| Specialist Fund of the Year | HESTA |
| Best Fund: Investments | Aware Super |
| Best Fund: Member Services | Aware Super |
| Best Fund: Insurance | UniSuper |
| Best Fund: Advice Services | Aware Super |
| Best Fund: Innovation | AMP Super – Lifetime feature |
| Best Fund: Lifetime Product | AMP – MyNorth Lifetime |
| Best Fund: Responsible Investment | UniSuper |
| MySuper Performance Outcomes | Hostplus |
| Best Fund: Digital Advice | Hostplus |
Source: Chant West
SuperRatings
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Retirement Offering of the Year | UniSuper |
| MyChoice Super of the Year | Aware Super |
| MySuper of the Year | Australian Retirement Trust |
| Momentum | Colonial First State |
| Net Benefit | HESTA |
| Smooth Ride | Aware Super |
| Sustainable Fund of the Year | Australian Ethical |
| Service Quality | NGS Super |
| Accountability and Transparency | REST Super |
| Advice Offering | TelstraSuper |
| Best Digital Offering | Aware Super |
| Best Low-cost Offering | Hostplus |
| Choice Insurance Offering | CareSuper |
| Default Insurance Offering | legalsuper |
| Lifetime Return | Australian Retirement Trust |
| Member Education | Brighter Super |
Source: SuperRatings
The bottom line
While the same names tend to crop up in the Super Fund of the Year awards, Rappell says there is an increase in the diversity of fund offerings and competition between funds, despite industry consolidation.
“You don’t need to check your super every day, but you should check (how your fund rates) every couple of years because the funds performing well continue to move around a bit,” he says.
The Fund of the Year and the sub-category winners are an indication of new benchmarks and standards within the superannuation industry.
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