Pension funds with the lowest fees

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

Your pension 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 as at March 2026. There is no single ‘average’ pension fund fee – 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 represents a smaller account-based pension, for example where a retiree has also taken a partial lump sum or is well into drawdown. At this level, a 1% fee costs $500 a year.
• A $500,000 balance is representative of a member transitioning to retirement or in the earlier years of 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
All Growth	96–100%	0.93%	0.82%
High Growth	81–95%	0.94%	0.84%
Growth	61–80%	0.92%	0.82%
Balanced	41–60%	0.86%	0.75%
Conservative	21–40%	0.80%	0.68%

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

The 20 cheapest funds

The 20 cheapest pension options across all investment categories are all 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 and transaction 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)
Super SA Income Stream	Indexed High Growth	$131	0.26%
Super SA Income Stream	Indexed Balanced	$131	0.26%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Indexed Diversified	$137	0.27%
Brighter Super Pension	Indexed Balanced	$156	0.31%
Aware Super	Conservative Indexed	$167	0.33%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	High Growth Index	$170	0.34%
Aware Super	Conservative Balanced Indexed	$172	0.34%
Rest	Growth Indexed	$173	0.35%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	Growth Index	$175	0.35%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Diversified	$175	0.35%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Moderate	$175	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%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Growth	$180	0.36%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	Balanced Index	$180	0.36%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	Conservative Index	$180	0.36%
Equip Retirement Income	Index Diversified	$187	0.37%

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 ($ per year)	Total fee (% per year)
Hostplus Pension	Indexed Growth	$389	0.08%
Hostplus Pension	Indexed High Growth	$489	0.10%
Hostplus Pension	Indexed Balanced	$489	0.10%
Hostplus Pension	Indexed Conservative	$539	0.11%
Hostplus Pension	Indexed Stable	$589	0.12%
Hostplus Pension	Indexed Defensive	$639	0.13%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Indexed Diversified	$902	0.18%
Super SA Income Stream	Indexed High Growth	$938	0.19%
Super SA Income Stream	Indexed Balanced	$938	0.19%
Rest	Growth Indexed	$1,028	0.21%
Aware Super	Conservative Indexed	$1,202	0.24%
Australian Retirement Trust	High Growth Index	$1,212	0.24%
Australian Retirement Trust	Balanced Index	$1,212	0.24%
Aware Super	Conservative Balanced Indexed	$1,252	0.25%
Brighter Super Pension	Indexed Balanced	$1,276	0.26%
Catholic Super	Index Diversified	$1,402	0.28%
Equip Retirement Income	Index Diversified	$1,402	0.28%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	High Growth Index	$1,500	0.30%
OnePath OneAnswer Pension	Growth Index	$1,550	0.31%
CFS FirstChoice Wholesale	Index Diversified	$1,550	0.31%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

At a $500,000 balance, Hostplus Pension Indexed Growth costs just $389 per year (0.08%). By comparison, the median actively-managed growth pension fund at the same balance costs 0.82% – or $4,100 a year. That’s a difference of nearly $3,700 a year, before investment returns are considered.

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	0.78%	0.64%
Median	0.93%	0.82%
Upper quartile	1.11%	0.96%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

5 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vision Income Streams	Just Shares	0.57%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Shares Only	0.67%
NESS Pension	High Growth	0.78%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	High Growth	0.87%
Perpetual WealthFocus Pension	Perpetual Global Alloc. Alpha	0.91%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

5 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Vision Income Streams	Just Shares	0.53%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Shares Only	0.57%
NESS Pension	High Growth	0.64%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	High Growth	0.70%
Hostplus Pension	High Growth	0.79%

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	0.85%	0.71%
Median	0.94%	0.84%
Upper quartile	1.12%	0.97%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Aggressive Growth	0.57%
GESB Retirement Income	Growth	0.60%
Australian Food Super Pension	Growth	0.62%
Team Super Pension	High Growth	0.62%
Vision Income Streams	Growth	0.73%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	High Growth	0.74%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Growth	0.74%
GuildPension	Growth	0.81%
Brighter Super Pension	Growth	0.84%
Active Super Income Streams	High Growth	0.86%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Australian Food Super Pension	Growth	0.46%
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Aggressive Growth	0.57%
GESB Retirement Income	Growth	0.60%
Team Super Pension	High Growth	0.62%
Prime Super Income Streams	Managed Growth	0.64%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Growth	0.64%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	High Growth	0.65%
GuildPension	Growth	0.67%
Vision Income Streams	Growth	0.69%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	Growth	0.72%

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	0.85%	0.72%
Median	0.92%	0.82%
Upper quartile	1.08%	0.95%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Team Super Pension	Balanced	0.64%
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Balanced Growth	0.65%
Vision Income Streams	Balanced Growth	0.71%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Balanced	0.76%
CSCri	Aggressive	0.77%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	Balanced	0.79%
Super SA Income Stream	Balanced	0.80%
Aware Super Retirement Income	Balanced	0.81%
Active Super Income Streams	Balanced	0.85%
Brighter Super Pension	Balanced	0.85%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
Prime Super Income Streams	Balanced	0.59%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	Balanced	0.62%
Team Super Pension	Balanced	0.64%
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Balanced Growth	0.65%
Vision Income Streams	Balanced Growth	0.67%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Balanced	0.67%
CSCri	Aggressive	0.68%
NESS Pension	MyPension Balanced	0.71%
Australian Food Super Pension	Balanced	0.72%
Aware Super Retirement Income	Balanced	0.72%

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	0.78%	0.64%
Median	0.86%	0.75%
Upper quartile	0.96%	0.89%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB Retirement Income	Balanced	0.53%
Team Super Pension	Moderate	0.64%
Vision Income Streams	Balanced	0.67%
Super SA Income Stream	Moderate	0.68%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Conservative Balanced	0.72%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Balanced	0.72%
CareSuper Pension	Conservative Balanced	0.77%
Brighter Super Pension	Conservative Balanced	0.78%
CSCri	Balanced	0.79%
First Super Retirement Income	Conservative Balanced	0.79%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB Retirement Income	Balanced	0.53%
Super SA Income Stream	Moderate	0.61%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Balanced	0.62%
Vision Income Streams	Balanced	0.63%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Conservative Balanced	0.63%
First Super Retirement Income	Conservative Balanced	0.64%
UniSuper Flexi Pension	Conservative Balanced	0.64%
CareSuper Pension	Conservative Balanced	0.64%
Team Super Pension	Moderate	0.64%
GuildPension	Balanced	0.67%

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	0.71%	0.58%
Median	0.80%	0.68%
Upper quartile	0.93%	0.79%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $50,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB Retirement Income	Conservative	0.46%
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Cautious	0.52%
Aware Super Retirement Income	Defensive	0.55%
Team Super Pension	Defensive	0.58%
Vision Income Streams	Conservative	0.61%
Super SA Income Stream	Stable	0.63%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Capital Stable	0.63%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Stable	0.64%
Cbus Super Income Stream	Conservative	0.69%
CareSuper Pension	Capital Stable	0.72%

Source: Chant West, March 2026.

10 cheapest funds: $500,000 balance

Fund	Investment option	Fee (% of balance)
GESB Retirement Income	Conservative	0.46%
Aware Super Retirement Income	Defensive	0.46%
Prime Super Income Streams	Conservative	0.49%
ANZ Staff Super Retirement	Cautious	0.52%
ESSSuper Income Streams	Capital Stable	0.53%
AustralianSuper Choice Income	Stable	0.55%
Super SA Income Stream	Stable	0.56%
Australian Food Super Pension	Capital Stable	0.57%
Vision Income Streams	Conservative	0.57%
Team Super Pension	Defensive	0.58%

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.

Some funds also offer benefits such as retirement bonuses and lifetime income streams.