Ian Fryer

Chant West and the Epic Retirement Institute has announced the outcome of the 2027 Epic Retirement Tick assessment. Three new funds join the line-up of funds that received the accreditation in 2026, including:

• AMP Super
• CFS FirstChoice, and
• Vision Super

These funds join Australian Retirement Trust – Super Savings, Aware Super, Brighter Super, Hostplus and UniSuper in the list of accredited funds.

Chant West General Manager, Ian Fryer, said there were some new themes that dominated the assessment this year, reflecting the changing and complex operating environment for super funds.

“There were new criteria introduced this year assessing cyber-safety, as well as a complaints-handling metric and more detailed requirements around access to financial advice and education. We saw a marked improvement in the way super funds were managing these important aspects of their operations,” he said.

“There has been a lot of development work by retail super funds across advice provision (digital & phone), engagement, and retirement income tools and calculators, leading to two of the three new funds being retail funds. Several more funds introduced a retirement bonus this year, but there was less innovation in terms of lifetime products. We’re hoping to see more work in this space by next year,” says Fryer.

Author and founder of the Epic Retirement Institute, Bec Wilson, said “the first year of the Tick put a visible benchmark in front of funds and consumers. Funds that didn’t meet the standard wanted to understand where they fell short and what they needed to do differently. Some have brought forward retirement initiatives, improved existing services or put greater focus on areas that weren’t measuring up. Impressively, some of the funds that received the Tick have continued to build on what they offer.

“That is exactly what we hoped would happen. The Tick was never designed simply to identify the funds meeting the standard. It was designed to help lift the standard across the industry,” she said.

The retirement-readiness framework, developed in a partnership between Chant West and Bec Wilson’s Epic Retirement Institute, offers a consumer-focussed assessment against 20 key criteria, evaluating the range of services and support super funds offer to pre-retirees and retirees. Funds must satisfy at least 14 out of the 20 criteria, with successful funds earning the ‘Epic Retirement Tick – powered by Chant West’.

Ian Fryer said super funds’ response to the introduction of the Tick has been very positive and created genuine dialogue about how the funds can lift their standards for the benefit of members heading towards and already in retirement

“Ultimately, we want as many Australians as possible to have access to the advice, products, tools and service that help them maximise their financial security in retirement. Super funds are working towards the same outcome, and the Tick supports their journey towards achieving that goal,” Fryer said.

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