SuperFind compares 14 of Australia's largest super funds. Every figure on the site is either pulled directly from a public source (APRA, ATO, fund PDS) or derived from those numbers using a single canonical formula applied uniformly across all funds. This page documents the formulas, the data, and what we exclude.
Fee calculation
The total annual fee for a given balance is calculated as:
Total fee = admin_fee_flat + balance × (admin_fee_pct + investment_fee_mysuper + indirect_cost_ratio) ÷ 100
Each fund's "Total Fees (MySuper)" headline figure on review and homepage cards is this same formula evaluated at a $50,000 balance. The fee tables on review pages show the same formula evaluated at $10k, $25k, $50k, $100k, $250k, and $500k balances so you can find the row closest to your own balance.
What's included: the four MySuper-default fee components (flat admin, percentage admin, investment, indirect cost ratio). What's excluded from the headline figure but disclosed on the page: buy/sell spread, performance fees, activity-based fees (e.g. switching fees, contribution-splitting fees), and insurance premiums. Insurance is calculated separately on each review page based on the fund's default cover and the member's age.
All fee components are sourced from each fund's most recent Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
Return data
Returns shown are net of investment fees and tax on the MySuper default option (typically a Balanced or MySuper Growth option). 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, and 10-year figures are annualised. Year-by-year (FY2015–FY2024) returns are individual financial-year returns.
Source: APRA Annual MySuper Statistics. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance — every page on SuperFind says this in the disclaimer.
Insurance premiums
Default-cover insurance premiums shown by age are sourced from each fund's Insurance in Super Booklet or PDS. They reflect the standard occupation category (typically "White Collar" or "General") and the fund's default cover level for a member of the given age. Premiums vary significantly by occupation classification, smoker status, and elected cover amount — the figures shown are indicative.
APRA Heatmap ratings
The "Fee Rating", "Return Rating", and "Sustainability Rating" categories shown on each review and comparison page are sourced from APRA's MySuper Product Heatmap. APRA classifies each MySuper product as "Above median", "Around median", or "Below median" relative to the broader industry on each axis. We don't reinterpret these ratings — they're shown as APRA classifies them.
APRA Annual Performance Test
The "APRA Annual Performance Test" status shown on each review page is sourced from APRA's published annual performance test results (most recently the 2025 results, published 29 August 2025). All 52 MySuper products passed in 2025. Our full pillar guide at /guides/apra-performance-test-2025/ covers methodology, history, and the consequences of failing.
Estimated fields and how we label them
For each fund, SuperFind tracks which fields are pulled directly from the fund's PDS or APRA disclosure and which are estimated from APRA aggregate data, peer-group averages, or industry sources. Estimated fields are flagged with an inline orange Estimated badge next to the relevant section heading on each review page.
The fields most commonly estimated are: per-age default insurance premiums (these vary significantly by occupation classification and smoker status, and most funds publish only the standard occupation table for one age), non-MySuper investment option counts and asset allocations (fund websites disclose these for current members only, not always in machine-readable form), some sustainability/ESG details (varying disclosure quality between funds), and member services details like average call-centre wait times (rarely published). Where a field is estimated, we err toward conservative figures consistent with the fund's broader category. None of the headline figures shown on the homepage or `/statistics/` page — AUM, member count, total fees, returns, AFCA complaints, APRA Performance Test result — are estimated; those are all direct from APRA, ATO, or the fund's own published statements.
Lost and unclaimed super (postcode pages)
Postcode-level lost-and-unclaimed-super figures are sourced from the ATO's Lost and Unclaimed Super by Postcode dataset on data.gov.au, with reporting period 30 June 2020 (the most recent ATO release of postcode-level data as of May 2026). National-total figures cited as $18 billion are the ATO's whole-of-Australia rollup as at 30 June 2025. Postcodes with cumulative unclaimed value under $200 are excluded by the ATO.
Suburb names per postcode are sourced from a public Australian postcode dataset and selected using a deterministic heuristic that prefers principal localities (e.g. "Bondi" rather than "Ben Buckler" for postcode 2026). Where the existing curated suburb name on this site differs from the heuristic pick, we keep the curated name. We only generate pages for postcodes with $1 million or more in total lost-and-unclaimed super; pages between $1M and $2M total value are noindexed to keep the indexed surface focused on meaningful localities.
Rankings
"Best super fund for X" pages and "Cheapest super fund at $X balance" pages rank funds using publicly observable criteria. Examples:
- Cheapest at $X: total fee at the specified balance, ascending. Same formula as above, applied at the page's named balance.
- Best for low fees: total fee at $50k, ascending.
- Best 10-year performance: 10-year annualised return on the MySuper default option, descending.
- Best for [profession/segment]: ranked using a scoring rubric that weighs fees at a typical balance for that segment, sector alignment (whether the fund has industry-specific tailoring), 10-year returns, and APRA heatmap fee/return ratings. The rubric is applied uniformly across all 14 funds.
No fund pays SuperFind for placement, ranking position, or inclusion. Rankings are derived from publicly available data only.
Update cadence
- Fee components — reviewed when each fund publishes a new PDS (typically annually, around July).
- Returns — updated annually after APRA publishes its Annual MySuper Statistics (typically late calendar year).
- Insurance premiums — reviewed annually with the PDS update.
- APRA Heatmap ratings — updated annually after APRA publishes its Heatmap (typically December).
- Lost-super postcode data — updated when the ATO publishes a new postcode-level release. The June 2020 dataset is the most recent.
- National lost-super total — updated annually when the ATO publishes its aggregate figure.
- Editorial review — every review and comparison page is reviewed at least annually for any prose that has gone stale.
Pages display a visible "Last reviewed" date. The data date for fund-level metrics is shown as May 2026.
What we exclude
- Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) — SMSFs are individually structured and don't have comparable fee/return profiles.
- Defined benefit funds — defined benefit entitlements aren't comparable on the same fee/return axis as accumulation funds.
- Choice (non-MySuper) options — fee and return figures are for the MySuper default option only. Funds offer many other investment options at different fees and risk levels, which we list on the review page but don't roll into the headline figure.
- Retail super funds and platforms — currently we cover industry funds. Retail funds are scheduled for inclusion in a future release.
Merged and closed funds
The Australian super industry has consolidated rapidly. When a fund we previously covered merges into another, we remove it from all comparisons, rankings, fee tables and statistics, and replace its review with a short notice page explaining which fund it merged into and when — so former members can find where their super went. Those notice pages are excluded from search indexing. Funds currently handled this way include LUCRF Super (merged into AustralianSuper, 2022), Media Super (now administered by Cbus, 2022), Spirit Super (merged into CareSuper, 2024), Active Super (merged into Vision Super, 2025) and Mine Super (merged into Team Super, 2025). Our headline fund counts and the May 2026 dataset reflect only funds still operating as independent APRA-regulated entities.
Errors and corrections
If a figure on SuperFind contradicts a fund's official PDS or APRA's published statistics, the fund's official source is correct and we'll update SuperFind. Email hello@decisionlab.com.au with the page URL and the discrepancy. We aim to verify and update within 7 days.