Media Release - AustralianSuper to freeze administration costs
Melbourne, 8 October 2011: In a move to benefit most of its members, AustralianSuper has announced it will be freezing its administration fee for the next three years.
AustralianSuper’s CEO, Ian Silk, has identified AustralianSuper’s size and scale as enabling it to offer this rare benefit to members.
“We’re delighted to be able to offer this savings opportunity to our members. Benefiting members is the driving force behind AustralianSuper and our economy of scale provides us the opportunity to make a real difference to members’ retirement outcomes,” said Mr Silk.
Many Australians are unaware that they can lose a significant amount of their super savings in administration fees and that even a seemingly small difference in fees can have a big impact over a lifetime¹. AustralianSuper hopes the fee freeze initiative will not only generate more savings, but will also shed light on the issue.
“Many Australians don’t fully investigate or understand the types of fees they are charged by their super fund, and the true impact of those fees over time. Over a lifetime these fees can accumulate to a significant amount, essentially reducing retirement savings,” said Mr Silk.
“While our fee freeze initiative is helping our members we hope it will also provoke all Australians to question the fees and costs associated with their super.”
Now is the ideal time for people to check what fees they are being charged, as annual statements are being sent to all super fund members. If they want to compare them there are several on-line comparators that are free and independent where they can compare the fees of other super funds with their own.
AustralianSuper is freezing the administration cost of $1.50 per week for the next three years. The fee freeze initiative commenced on 1 July 2011 and applies to all AustralianSuper members except those in the Corporate and Pension divisions. This initiative will run until at least 2014, with the potential to extend this period.
“We have just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Super Guarantee, and while Australia’s super system is one of the most advanced in the world there is always room for improvement.”
“Reducing the real cost of fees is a simple way for funds to show they are committed to the improvement of the industry for all members,” concluded Mr Silk.
Download the full media release
For more information please contact:
AustralianSuper
Susan Fairley
Marketing Manager
03 8648 3834
sfairley@australiansuper.com
¹Fee Comparator - the SuperRatings fee comparator projects the impact of fees assuming the same net investment returns for AustralianSuper and an average of retail super funds. To see the example of a 25 year old, earning $50,000pa with $10,000 in their super account, download the full media release. The results are shown in today’s dollars.