Super fees hit $9.5b a year
Australian superannuation funds extracted $9.5 billion in fees in the 12 months to 30 June, this year with the largest portion being investment fees, according to the latest data issued by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
And the scale of the industry has also been underlined by APRA’s data revealing that expenses paid to service providers totalled $10.4 billion with 85.5% ($8.9 billion) paid to external services providers.
Importantly, this represented a 12.9% increase in expenses paid to external service providers over the 12-month period.
At the same time, the 397 directors on superannuation fund boards were paid an average $98,809 a year.
But the overriding message delivered by the APRA data is that while superannuation assets have continued to grow exponentially increasing by 52.2% to $4.3 trillion between 2020 and 2025, the number of superannuation funds has been more than halved in the same period.
The APRA data reveal that the number of APRA-regulated funds declined from 1,656 to 771 (53.4%) with the number of APRA-regulated funds with more than six members declining from 158 to 81.
In addition, there was a net reduction of 12 pooled superannuation trusts (PSTs) and 796 % from 566,871 to 653,062 over the five years to June 2025.
At 30 June 2025, there were 58 APRA-regulated RSE licensees responsible for managing 81 funds with more than six members. These funds had 22.9-million-member accounts.
There were 397 directorships on the boards of APRA-regulated trustees at 30 June 2025, with females accounting for 42.6% of directorships. The average board size was 7 directors, with average director remuneration of $98,809 per annum.
The annual rate of return for the year ended June 2025 was 10.1%, higher than the five year (7.8%) and ten year (6.5%) average annual return to June 2025.
APRA noted that performance was positive despite increased risks to international trade and global growth which was reflected in significant market volatility for the year.
And how many of those “external service providers” are in turn providing money to union officials and ALP politicans?
0.8% on $12T for asset management, RE, trustee and member services including administration, reporting, managing death benefits and information and education.
Not a bad price really.
“Extracted”? What a peculiar choice of language. The word carries an unmistakable undertone of theft or exploitation—as if something was taken against the will of fund members.
But how exactly can fees be “extracted” when millions of Australians knowingly pay them in exchange for services rendered? Investment management, administration, advice, compliance, custody—none of this happens for free.
This is simply more anti-adviser, anti-retail super narrative creation dressed up as journalism. Disappointing to see Mike put his name to it.
Let’s do some basic arithmetic. $9.5 billion on a $4.3 trillion asset base works out to roughly 0.22%. In what universe is 22 basis points for professional management of retirement savings considered excessive? Most Australians would struggle to match market returns on their own, let alone navigate the regulatory and tax complexity of superannuation.
As Thomas Sowell would ask: “Compared to what? Show me the evidence.”
Compared to managing your own SMSF? Compared to leaving money in a bank account? Compared to fee structures in comparable international markets?
The framing here tells us more about the author’s assumptions than it does about the actual value proposition being delivered to members.