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Home / Super funds / Super fund fees / Super and pension funds with the lowest fees

Super and pension funds with the lowest fees

February 16, 2021 by Barbara Drury Leave a Comment

Reading time: 3 minutes

Following recommendations from both the banking royal commission and the Productivity Commission, fees charged by superannuation funds have been in the spotlight.

The Productivity Commission (PC) review of super found that “(member) balances are eroded by fees and insurance”. It also claimed that fees were “the biggest drain on net returns”.

In response, the government announced plans in its 2020 Budget to introduce a new online comparison tool called YourSuper. Starting on 1 July 2021 and updated quarterly, super funds will be ranked by fees and investment returns.

It’s critically important that the fees you are paying are good value because what may initially appear to be a small percentage can grow to make a huge difference over time due to the magic of compounding interest.


We have developed the SuperGuide Super fees and returns calculator to help readers understand the difference the fees they pay and projected returns may make over time.


The PC estimated an increase of just 0.5% a year in fees would reduce the retirement balance of a typical worker (starting work today) by a projected 12% (or $100,000).

The PC also reported that “Higher fees are clearly associated with lower net returns over the long term”, although SuperGuide has also published analysis from SuperRatings that suggests the full story is more complicated than that. Read SuperGuide article Super fund fees: Do lower fees mean better net returns? to learn more.


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SuperRatings has also kindly provided us with the following list of the ten super and pension funds with the lowest fees as at 31 December 2020.

10 cheapest super funds (Balanced investment option)

The crown this year has passed to HESTA Indexed Balanced Growth option, a new entrant into the top 10. This pushed last year’s winner and runner up – Hostplus and Rest – into second and third place.

SuperRatings Market Insights Analyst, Joshua Lowen said fees decreased on average over the past year with one potential driver being more funds introducing passively managed indexed options to target fee conscious members. “HESTA made significant changes to its investment menu last year, including the introduction of the Indexed Balanced Option,” he said.


Need to know

Passive index funds aim to track and replicate the performance of a particular market index such as the S&P/ASX 200 Index. They do this by investing in all the underlying investments in that index. This reduces management costs, so investment fees are generally lower than fees for actively managed funds.


However, Lowen points out that most super fund members are invested in their fund’s default MySuper option (not their indexed options). These tend to be actively, rather than passively managed.

While low fees grab the headlines, it’s worth remembering that it is net investment returns after fees that matters most in the long term.

The entry of HESTA and Colonial First State FirstChoice into the top 10 pushed heavyweights Australian Super and Sunsuper below the line.

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The fees for the super funds listed below are based on a $50,000 balance.

RankFund nameInvestment optionFund typeFeesFees as a percentage of balance
1HESTAIndexed Balanced GrowthIndustry$1050.21%
2Hostplus Indexed BalancedIndustry$1080.22%
3RESTRest – Balanced IndexedIndustry$1380.28%
4ClearView WealthFoundationsIPS Index Base 70Retail$1550.31%
5Media SuperIndexed BalancedIndustry$1600.32%
6NGS SuperIndexed GrowthIndustry$1600.32%
7Energy SuperIndexed BalancedIndustry$1720.34%
8Colonial First State FirstChoiceCFS Wsale Index BalancedRetail$1750.35%
9AvSuper FundDiversified IndexIndustry$1850.37%
10Vision SuperSustainable BalancedIndustry$2080.42%

Source: SuperRatings. The funds above have the lowest fees based on Balanced options (60% to 76% growth assets) for public and limited public offer funds only as at 31 December 2020. Fees include percentage-based administration fees, member fees, investment management fees (including performance-based fees), indirect cost ratios and taxes, but exclude any applicable employer size rebates.


Important: Balanced (often referred to as “Growth”) is the most common investment option and is generally the default investment option when joining a super fund. Balanced in this context refers to the risk profile of the investment option and means that 60–76% of the fund’s assets are defined as ‘growth assets’ (such as shares and property).

Learn more about risk and investment options in the following SuperGuide articles

  • Super investing: What is your risk profile?
  • Balanced, Growth, Defensive: What’s in a name?

10 cheapest pension funds (balanced investment option)

REST  rose to the top the list for the lowest fees in the Pension category, after coming in at number three the previous year, while Hostplus held onto second place.

Once again, as in the super fund category above, HESTA and CFS-FC moved into the top 10 with indexed options. LUCRF was another new entrant with an indexed option, while Australian Super, Sunsuper and UniSuper dropped out of the top 10.

Fees continued to drop  across the board, with REST and Hostplus cutting fees from 0.21% of members’ account balance to 0.15%.

Note that the fees listed below are based on a $250,000 balance to reflect the fact that those drawing a pension will generally have had longer to accumulate a larger balance. The fees for the super funds above are based on a $50,000 balance. 

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RankFund nameInvestment optionFund typeFeesFees as a percentage of balance
1RESTBalanced IndexedIndustry$3780.15%
2HostplusIndexed BalancedIndustry$3840.15%
3Media SuperIndexed BalancedIndustry$5400.22%
4NGS SuperIndexed GrowthIndustry$5400.22%
5AvSuper FundDiversified IndexIndustry$6350.25%
6HESTAIndexed Balanced GrowthIndustry$6660.27%
7LUCRFIndexed BalancedIndustry$6780.27%
8Energy SuperIncome Stream – Indexed BalancedIndustry$7520.30%
9ClearView WealthFoundationsIPS Index Base 70Retail$7750.31%
10Colonial First State FirstChoiceCFS Wsale Index BalancedRetail$8000.32%

Source: SuperRatings. The funds above have the lowest fees based on balanced investment options (60% to 76% growth assets) for public and limited public offer funds only as at 31 December 202020. Fees include percentage-based administration fees, member fees, investment management fees (including performance-based fees), indirect cost ratios and taxes, but exclude any applicable employer size rebates.

It’s important not to solely focus on fees. Performance is also critical to growing your super balance. 

Are you with a top performing super fund?

Click here to compare more than 90 Australian super funds, including returns, fees, features, awards and more.

Learn more about comparing super funds in the following SuperGuide articles:

What is MySuper, and which super funds have MySuper products?

February 26, 2021

Super funds with the lowest fees for life and TPD insurance

January 20, 2021

How your super fund works and who’s who in your fund

January 4, 2021

Super and pension fund performance: Where does your fund rank?

November 12, 2020

How to compare super funds in 7 easy steps

October 1, 2020

List of APRA-regulated superannuation funds

April 1, 2020

What are the different types of super funds?

March 9, 2020

How to benchmark your super fund

January 4, 2020

Fund Performance: SMSFs vs APRA super funds

May 7, 2019

Learn more about super fees in the following SuperGuide articles:

Super fund fees: Do lower fees mean better net returns?

February 19, 2021

Super funds with the lowest fees for life and TPD insurance

January 20, 2021

Super funds with the lowest fees for income protection insurance

January 20, 2021

What does it cost to run an SMSF?

December 2, 2020

10 key super fund fees: What are they and why am I paying them?

November 20, 2019

Super fees and returns calculator

October 2, 2019

What are average super fund fees?

July 8, 2019

Super funds mentioned in this article

Hostplus Superannuation Fund REST (Retail Employees Superannuation Trust) NGS Super ClearView Retirement Plan Media Super Energy Super AvSuper Fund AustralianSuper Vision Super (Local Authorities Superannuation Fund) Sunsuper Superannuation Fund UniSuper

Related topics

Super fund fees Super funds

IMPORTANT: All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it. If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions. Comments provided by readers that may include information relating to tax, superannuation or other rules cannot be relied upon as advice. SuperGuide does not verify the information provided within comments from readers. Learn more

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