Retail Super Funds in Australia — AMP, Colonial First State, Mercer, Insignia, Macquarie

SuperFind's main coverage is the 19 largest industry super funds. This guide covers the other major segment of the Australian super-fund market: retail funds — funds operated by listed financial-services companies on a profit-to-shareholder basis. We cover the six largest retail funds at a high level, with current AUM, trustee structure, and 2025 APRA Performance Test outcome. Detailed product-level reviews are pending Q3 2026.

Industry funds vs retail funds — the actual difference

The headline difference is structural: industry funds are run on a not-for-profit basis with profits returned to members through lower fees, while retail funds are operated by listed financial-services companies (AMP, IOOF/Insignia, Mercer, etc.) that earn shareholder returns on managing the fund. In practice, the gap has narrowed: many retail funds have cut fees aggressively over the past decade, while industry funds have grown sophisticated investment operations that look very similar to wholesale asset management.

Where retail funds remain meaningfully different:

Distribution model: retail funds historically grew through tied financial-adviser networks (which earned trail commissions until they were banned under FOFA in 2013). Industry funds grew through default workplace enrolment via the Modern Award system.
Platform structure: many retail products are platform products — wrap accounts that hold dozens or hundreds of underlying investment options, often with a separate adviser fee layered on top. Industry funds typically offer 5–20 options under a single fee structure.
Performance test outcomes: in APRA's 2025 performance test, all 7 failed products were retail platform trustee-directed products. No industry-fund MySuper option has failed in the last two years.

AMP Super

Trustee: N.M. Superannuation Pty Ltd · RSE Licence: L0002523 · Combined AUM: ~$114B (AMP Super Fund + Wealth Personal Superannuation and Pension Fund, FY 2024) · 2025 MySuper Test: Pass

Australia's largest retail super fund by AUM, operated by the listed AMP Ltd. AMP Super has been through significant restructuring since 2019, when APRA imposed additional licence conditions on N.M. Super; those conditions were revoked in 2024 after AMP completed rectification work. AMP's MySuper option passed the 2025 APRA Performance Test. However, four AMP-affiliated platform trustee-directed products did fail the 2025 test, accounting for more than half of the seven platform TDP failures industry-wide.

Colonial First State (FirstChoice)

Trustee: Colonial First State Investments Limited · RSE Licence: L0002196 · Approx AUM: ~$80B · 2025 MySuper Test: Pass

Originally part of CBA, sold to KKR in 2020 and now operates as a standalone super and investment platform. FirstChoice Employer Super is the MySuper product (passed the 2025 test), while FirstWrap is the broader retail platform. The FirstChoice MySuper product failed the inaugural 2021 performance test and was on the watchlist for several years; subsequent fee cuts and investment restructuring restored its compliant status.

Mercer Super Trust

Trustee: Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited · RSE Licence: L0000819 · Approx AUM: ~$70B (post-merger) · 2025 MySuper Test: Pass

Mercer Super Trust absorbed BT Super for Life and BT Super in 2023 following the merger between BT's super arm and Mercer Australia. The fund's MySuper option passed the 2025 test. Mercer's master-trust structure means many underlying investment options carry separate fee layers.

Insignia Financial (formerly IOOF, including former MLC Super)

Trustees include: IOOF Investment Management Limited (L0000406), Nulis Nominees (Australia) Limited (former MLC trustee) · Approx combined AUM: ~$100B · 2025 MySuper Test: Pass

Insignia Financial is the ASX-listed parent company that absorbed MLC Wealth from NAB in 2021, alongside its existing IOOF, RI Advice, and Bridges advisory networks. The MLC MySuper option passed the 2025 test. One IOOF Investment Management platform TDP failed the 2025 test.

Macquarie Super

Trustee: Macquarie Investment Management Limited · RSE Licence: L0001281 · Approx AUM: ~$30B · 2025 MySuper Test: Pass

Macquarie Group's super and pension platform, focused on high-net-worth members and the financial-adviser channel. Macquarie does not currently run a traditional default MySuper product the same way industry funds do; its core offering is the Macquarie Wrap and Macquarie Super Manager platforms with member-selected investments.

NAB / BT Super (legacy)

The BT Super and BT Super for Life brand sat under Westpac/BT for many years. In 2023 the legacy BT super products were migrated to Mercer (see above). Standalone "BT Super" no longer exists as a distinct retail super fund — the brand effectively rolled into Mercer Super Trust.

Should you switch from a retail fund to an industry fund?

This is the most common question SuperFind receives about retail funds. The honest answer is: it depends, and the policy environment has narrowed the gap considerably from a decade ago. Three considerations:

If your retail fund passes the APRA performance test (most major ones do), the case for switching is weaker than it used to be. The compulsory disclosure requirements of YFYS have forced retail funds to publish fees and returns in directly comparable formats.
If your retail product failed the 2025 test (e.g. certain N.M. Super or IOOF platform TDPs), you'll receive a written notification from the trustee. Strongly consider switching.
If you're paying an adviser fee for the retail product (often 0.5%–1.5% per annum on top of the underlying fund fees), evaluate the adviser's value separately. The fund itself can be reasonable; the adviser layer is often where the cost differential with industry funds appears.

SuperFind's 19-fund industry-fund dataset includes the lowest-fee MySuper products in the market — see cheapest super funds by balance. The comparison calculator at /compare/tool/ lets you size-up any two industry funds head-to-head; retail funds will be added once detailed product reviews land in Q3 2026.

Reviewed by Jarrod, Editor · DecisionLab Last reviewed: April 2026 · Methodology

Important information The information on SuperFind is general in nature and does not take into account your personal financial situation, needs, or objectives. It is not personal financial advice. Before making any financial decisions about your superannuation, consider whether the information is appropriate for your circumstances and consider seeking advice from a licensed financial adviser. Super fund data including fees and performance returns shown on this site were current as of April 2026 — always verify figures on the fund's website. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Data sourced from APRA, ATO, and individual fund disclosures. Read our methodology for how figures are calculated and our about page for editorial policy. SuperFind is a DecisionLab publication.