Satisfaction with the performance of superannuation funds has returned to pre-global financial crisis levels, Roy Morgan research has found.
Overall approval ratings hit 53.5 per cent in the six months to January 2014 – up 6.9 percentage points on January 2013 – with the margin between industry and retail funds continuing to narrow.
Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) remain the satisfaction frontrunners, with 73.1 per cent happy with the performance of their fund, followed by industry funds on 54.4 per cent and retail funds on 52 per cent.
“Overall satisfaction with financial performance of superannuation is at the highest level since December 2008, when satisfaction decreased in light of the global financial crisis,” Norman Morris, industry communications director, Roy Morgan Research, said.
“This renewed optimism in financial performance has been particularly evident in recent times amongst the retail funds which incurred greater losses in the aftermath of the crisis.
“With growing competition between the industry and retail funds for market share and the rapid expansion of the SMSF sector, satisfaction with financial performance is increasingly a factor that fund managers should be taking notice of,” he added.
The research was based on interviews with 30,000 superannuation members.
