AMP and Sunsuper lead Heron ratings

AMP Signature Super and Sunsuper Personal have emerged at the top of the list in the Heron Quality Star Ratings launched this week.

The new ratings system sees Heron expand its long-standing product assessment process into a fully-fledged ratings service, which will see Australia's major superannuation funds assessed twice a year.

Heron Partnership managing director Christopher Butler said he believed the new ratings system was precise because it assessed the funds against around 150 benchmarks.

He said the primary goal of the ratings was to provide a realistic and objective representation of the strengths and weaknesses of a product, with the ratings being based on feature-specific benchmarks.

"Unlike some other rating systems, there is no limit to the number of products that can receive a five star rating," Butler said. The ratings revealed 17 corporate superannuation products had gained a five star rating from Heron, while 22 industry fund products had gained a five star rating, with AMP Signature Super leading in the corporate fund arena, while Sunsuper Personal emerged top of the class with respect to retail offerings.