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29th Heron Quality Star Ratings Released
Released: 1 July, 2020
2020/21 Calendar Year Assessment
Leading independent superannuation and actuarial consultancy, The Heron Partnership, has released its latest half-yearly assessment of superannuation funds for calendar year 2020/21
Originally launched in 2006, the 2020/21 calendar year ratings are the 29th public assessment undertaken by Heron. These ratings covered 107 major superannuation products, which included 37 commercial products, 40 industry funds, 8 Government designated funds, 22 specialist "corporate" products and 62 pension products.
The Heron Partnership's Managing Director, Chris Butler, said, "The primary goal of the Heron rating process is to provide a realistic and objective representation of product strengths and weaknesses. Our ratings are based on feature specific benchmarks that guide our assessors to rate each feature objectively.
Of the 107 superannuation products assessed, 76 have been judged as outstanding quality and awarded 5 Heron Quality Stars. This in itself is an endorsement of the overall quality of the superannuation products available."
The following table lists the superannuation products that received Heron's highest rating.
Outstanding Superannuation Products
| AMG Super - Corporate Super | legalsuper |
| AMG Super - Personal Super | LGIAsuper |
| AMP CustomSuper | Local Government Super |
| AMP Flexible Super | LUCRF |
| AMP Flexible Super - Employer | Macquarie Wrap - Super Accumulator |
| AMP MyNorth | Macquarie Wrap - Super and Pension Consolidator |
| AMP SignatureSuper | Macquarie Wrap - Super and Pension Manager |
| AMP SignatureSuper Select | Media Super - Employer Sponsored Account |
| AMP Summit - Personal Super | Mercer SmartSuper Plan - Employer Section |
| ANZ Smart Choice Super (Employer Sponsored) | Mercer Super Trust - Corporate Superannuation Division |
| Asgard Elements Super | Mine Super |
| Asgard Employee Super | MLC MasterKey Business Super |
| Asgard eWRAP Super | MLC MasterKey Super Fundamentals |
| Asgard Infinity eWRAP Super | MTAA Super |
| AustralianSuper Personal Plan | netwealth Super Accelerator Core - Employer Sponsored Super |
| AustralianSuper Plan | netwealth Super Accelerator Plus - Employer Sponsored Super |
| AustralianSuper Public Sector Division | netwealth Super Wrap - Employer Sponsored Super |
| AustralianSuper Select | NGS Super |
| Bendigo SmartStart Super | OneAnswer Frontier Personal Super and Pension |
| BT Super | Plum Super - Corporate Division |
| BT Super for Life | Plum Super - Personal Division |
| CareSuper Employee Plan | Prime Super (Health Division) |
| CareSuper Personal Plan | Prime Super (Prime Division) |
| Catholic Super | QSuper - Accumulation Account |
| Colonial First State FirstChoice Employer Super | REST Corporate |
| Colonial First State FirstChoice Wholesale Personal Super | REST Super |
| EISS Super | Russell Investments Master Trust - iQ Super - Employer |
| Equip MyFuture | Russell Investments Master Trust - iQ Super - General |
| Equip MyFuture - Corporate | Russell Investments Master Trust - iQ Super - Saver |
| First State Super | smartMonday DIRECT |
| HESTA | smartMonday PRIME |
| Hostplus | Sunsuper for life |
| Hostplus Executive | Sunsuper for life Business |
| Hostplus Personal Super Plan | Sunsuper for life Corporate |
| IOOF Employer Super | Tasplan |
| IOOF Personal Super | Telstra Super - Personal Plus |
| IOOF Pursuit Focus Personal Superannuation | UniSuper Accumulation 1 |
| IOOF Pursuit Select Personal Superannuation | VicSuper FutureSaver |
MySuper Investment Option
Heron has again undertaken an assessment of each products MySuper investment option. For their MySuper rating Heron considers the type of option (LifeStages or Single Diversified), the reliability of the historical return history, the TAA range, the level and type of active/passive management, actual or indicative historical investment performance, ease of understanding and fee based on the PDS disclosure. In addition, in assessing the LifeStages options Heron considered whether the structure included cohorts, the cohort age band period and the cohort curve shape.
Based on this assessment criteria, Heron awarded 5 Stars to the following 28 products.
Outstanding MySuper Option
| AMG Super - Corporate Super | IOOF Employer Super |
| ANZ Smart Choice Super (Employer Sponsored) | LUCRF |
| AustralianSuper Plan | Media Super - Employer Sponsored Account |
| Bendigo SmartStart Super | MTAA Super |
| BUSSQ MySuper | NGS Super |
| CareSuper Employee Plan | Prime Super (Health Division) |
| Cbus Industry Super | QSuper - Accumulation Account |
| Club Plus Super | Rest Super |
| EISS Super | Sunsuper for life |
| Equip MyFuture | Tasplan |
| First State Super | UniSuper Accumulation Super (1) |
| HESTA | VicSuper FutureSaver |
| Hostplus | Vision Super - Vision Personal |
| Intrust Super | WA Super (MySuper) |
The assessment of personal and corporate superannuation products undertaken by Heron covers about 130 key product features that are grouped under 5 Areas of Importance of Investment Arrangements, Insurance, Contributions, Ancillary Benefits, and Communications. Investments and Insurance have the greatest impact on a product's rating with weightings of 55% and 30% respectively.
Based on Heron's numeric rating the following products have been designated as Top Ten Products for Investment Features and as Top Ten Products for Insurance Features.
In alphabetical order the Top 10 Personal and Corporate Products in respect to Investment Features are:
Top 10 Investment Features
| Personal | Corporate |
|---|---|
| AustralianSuper Plan | AMP Flexible Super - Employer |
| BT Panorama Super | AMP SignatureSuper |
| CareSuper Personal Plan | Asgard Employee Super |
| Hostplus | AustralianSuper Select |
| IOOF Personal Super | CareSuper Employee Plan |
| Macquarie Wrap - Super and Pension Consolidator | IOOF Employer Super |
| Macquarie Wrap - Super and Pension Manager | MLC MasterKey Business Super |
| Mercer SmartSuper Plan - Individual Section | Plum Super - Corporate Division |
| Plum Super - Personal Division | Sunsuper for life Business |
| Sunsuper for life | Sunsuper for life Corporate |
In alphabetical order the Top 10 Personal and Corporate Products in respect to Insurance Features are:
Top 10 Insurance Features
| Personal | Corporate |
|---|---|
| Asgard Elements Super | AMP SignatureSuper |
| Asgard eWRAP Super | Asgard Employee Super |
| Asgard Infinity eWRAP Super | BT Super |
| legalsuper | IOOF Employer Super |
| netwealth Super Accelerator Core - Employer Sponsored Super | Mercer Super Trust - Corporate Superannuation Division |
| netwealth Super Accelerator Plus - Employer Sponsored Super | MLC MasterKey Business Super |
| netwealth Super Wrap - Employer Sponsored Super | Plum Super - Corporate Division |
| NGS Super | Russell Investments Master Trust - iQ Super - Employer |
| Telstra Super - Personal Plus | smartMonday PRIME |
| VicSuper FutureSaver | Sunsuper for life Corporate |
The Pension products rated as "outstanding quality" and therefore awarded 5 Heron Quality Stars are (in alphabetical order), as follows.
Outstanding Pension Products
| AMP Flexible Lifetime Allocated Pension Plan | Intrust Super Super Stream Pension |
| AMP Signature Super Allocated Pension | IOOF Pursuit Focus Allocated Pension |
| AMP Summit Personal Pension | IOOF Pursuit Select Allocated Pension |
| Asgard Elements Pension Account | legalsuper Pension |
| Asgard eWRAP Pension | Media Super Pension |
| Asgard Infinity eWRAP Pension | MLC MasterKey Pension Fundamentals |
| AustralianSuper Choice Income | MLC Navigator Retirement Plan Series 2 - Pension Service |
| BUSSQ Pension | MLC Wrap Super - Pension Service |
| Caresuper Pension | NGS Super Account Based Pension |
| Colonial First State - FirstChoice Pension | OnePath OneAnswer Frontier Pension |
| EISS Pension | Prime Super Income Streams |
| Equipsuper Account Based Pension | Rest Pension |
| HESTA Income Stream | Sunsuper for Life - Income Account |
| Hostplus Pension Plan | Vision Income Streams |
The Heron Quality Star Ratings have 5 levels as follows:
| Rating | Definition |
|---|---|
| 5 Stars | Outstanding |
| 4 Stars | Commendable |
| 3 Stars | Good |
| 2 Stars | Poor |
| 1 Star | Unacceptable |
Details of the Heron Quality Star Ratings, including the assessment methodology and products awarded with 5 Heron Quality Stars, are featured on The Heron Partnership's web site and their Heron Advisor product research and comparison service.