Out of the largest 15 superannuation funds women are most satisfied with the financial performance of self-managed super funds (SMSFs).
Based on a survey of 16,431 women with superannuation accounts Roy Morgan’s research shows 78.8 per cent were satisfied with SMSFs while the highest ranked institutional fund was QSuper at 72.7 per cent (see box).
Of the 15 largest funds AMP had the lowest levels of satisfaction with 49.5 per cent, but Hostplus (49.7 per cent), REST (51.9 per cent) and SunSuper (52.0 per cent) were all below the average of 57 per cent.
“Our results show that a number of major funds are not meeting the expectations of their female members, which will make retaining and attracting funds more difficult,” said Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan Research.
When AMP was asked how it planned to improve satisfaction levels of financial performance amongst women it said it was evolving its digital and direct channels to make it easier for customers to engage with their wealth.
“We know that customers who are digitally engaged are more likely to have higher engagement with their finances,” an AMP spokesperson said.
QSuper’s chief executive Rosemary Vilgan said that while the gender super gap is not a new concept, it is one that continues to need urgent attention and as a result the fund had launched new tools.
“Both Money Map and Online Advice are a reflection of the significant shift from one-size-fits-all to a much more personalised approach.
“QSuper wants to become the financial partner of each member so we launched these online tools to help them make better, more informed decisions,” Vilgan said.
Vilgan urged women to take control of their finances and suggested taking time out to understand their super was a great first step. She added the fund had embarked on a journey to support members through a lifetime of financial decisions.
“The Intergenerational Report released in March is predicting Australian women will live into their mid-nineties, which means we are facing the reality of too many women living on the poverty line in retirement.
“We know around 90 percent of women will retire with inadequate savings for a comfortable lifestyle in retirement and even worse, 1 in 3 women will retire with no super at all.”
The rankings were based on Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey of 50,000 Australians across regions and demographics. Respondents were asked to identify their superannuation provider and to rate it on a five point scale. The very satisfied and satisfied answers from women with superannuation accounts were aggregated to give the proportion of women satisfied with the financial performance of the fund.
