Kevin O’Sullivan

UniSuper, the $72 billion super fund for the higher education and research sector, has announced a significant reduction in its annual administration fee, further lowering the cost of superannuation for over 100,000 members.

From 1 October, UniSuper will replace its standard annual $96 fixed administration fee on its accumulation products with an annual fee of the lesser of $96 or 2% of the member’s account balance.

The change further strengthens UniSuper’s position as one of the lowest cost superannuation funds in Australia, and will reduce the fees for more than 100,000 members who currently have an account balance of less than $4,800. In practice, these fees will also be reduced by a 15% tax rebate passed on to members.

By capping the 2% fee at $96 per annum, no UniSuper accumulation member will pay higher administration fees than they do today.

UniSuper CEO Kevin O’Sullivan said the change would be of greatest benefit to casual, young and new members, helping them build their account balance more quickly.

“Recently, there has been an increasing focus on superannuation fees, especially for members with lower balances. It was a key focus area in our annual fee review,” Kevin said.

The changes ensure that UniSuper’s fees satisfy, in advance, the proposed changes announced in the Federal Budget which included a cap of 3% on combined administration and investment fees and costs for superannuation accounts with balances of less than $6,000.

“The members who will benefit from this change tend to be younger or working casually so this change will help address the very real issue of fees eroding their account balances.

“We are proud to be consistently recognised as one of the lowest fee superannuation funds in Australia. However, it is important to recognise great value is more than just low fees—it’s also our mix of strong investment performance and options, award-winning insurance and financial advice offerings, and excellent service.”

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