A key architect of the compulsory retirement savings system lauds its many achievements, stretching from the national economy to the individual. Where it’s double faulting is in serving members – and it needs to be addressed promptly.
With performance and diversification driving demand, these funds are expected to experience four-fold global growth over the next decade to nearly $AU65 trillion.
The Chant West Awards finalists
(Pictured: Warren Chant)
The finalists of the Chant West 2015 Super Fund Awards have been announced by the research house Chant West. The fund ratings firm has announced finalists across 12 categories, including Super and Pension Funds of the Year. Seven industry funds, three retail and commercial multi-manager funds, one public sector fund and one corporate fund were nominated in four or more of the categories.
The finalists for Super Fund of the Year are AustralianSuper, CareSuper, First State Super, HESTA, HOSTPLUS, QSuper, REST, Sunsuper, Telstra Super and UniSuper – all not-for-profit funds.
The finalists for Pension Fund of the Year are AMP, Asgard, AustralianSuper, Colonial First State, First State Super, MLC, QSuper, REST, Sunsuper and UniSuper.
Funds that have been nominated in four or more categories are AMP, AustralianSuper, CareSuper, Equip, HESTA, Mercer, MLC / Plum, QSuper, REST, Sunsuper, Telstra Super and UniSuper.
“We rated about 170 super funds and 100 pension funds in late 2014. For super funds, this involved scoring them on about 120 factors under our six main criteria,” said Warren Chant, principal at Chant West.
The two main criteria – investments and member services – account for 60 per cent of a fund’s overall rating (see table below).
Funds were scored on each of these criteria, applying the weights shown in the table to arrive at the funds’ overall scores.
“Our starting point in deciding the finalists in each award category was to consider the top 10 to 15 scores for the relevant criteria from our ratings process. So, for example, the finalists for the Best Fund: Member Services are those that scored highest on that criterion alone,” Chant said.
“Our research team then debated those scores to see whether they truly reflected our views of the funds given our experience and knowledge of them. In some cases, the debate caused us to revisit our scores, which resulted in a change to our rankings.”
The process was applied to each award category, and Chant says senior management also reviewed the entire process for “its robustness and consistency”.
The complete list of finalists view here. For other Awards details, visit the website
