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Have you been hunting lately? Hunting, that is, for information about your super fund? Superannuation funds are strange beasts, really. They can change shape depending on the person or company running them. You can identify the type of superannuation fund in most cases by looking at the organisation running the fund.

Understanding the type of fund that either you belong to or you’re considering joining is very important because different funds offer different benefits at varying costs.

The main purpose of your super fund is to enable you to have a better life in retirement by getting the best returns possible on your super investment. Getting good insurance coverage in your fund, or outside your fund, is an excellent idea, too (for info on insurance and super, see Chapter 24).

Super funds invest in shares, property and other investments just like you do, but super funds are often a more tax-effective option; that is, they’re able to take advantage of much lower rates of tax than you may ordinarily pay on your non-super investment income (for information about super’s investment rules, see Part IV in this book). Basically, a superannuation fund is a tax-effective vehicle for investing your money with special bells and whistles, and lots of rules.

Earlier in this chapter I discuss traits that identify super funds (refer to ‘Appreciating a Super Fund’s DNA’), but you don’t need binoculars to spot one of the 537,300 or so superannuation funds in Australia, because just under 537,000 of them are small funds; that is, with four members or less. If you are a member of a large super fund, or considering a large super fund, then you have only 294 super funds (as at June 2014) to choose from. Just under 300 super funds may still seem overwhelming, but the good news is that there are only seven types of super fund available, which are relatively easy to spot: A SMSF, or one of six types of super funds with professional trustees. I explain these types of super funds in the following section.

Discovering seven fund types on your super safari

You can expect to find seven broad types of super funds in the super fund market, although six of these types of funds are professionally managed for you. Only one type of super fund, a SMSF, gives you total control, and also total responsibility, for your retirement savings.

The following list describes the six broad types of managed superannuation funds:

✔ Industry funds: An industry fund often caters for workers from a particular industry, but many of them are now available to anyone.

✔ Company/corporate funds: A company fund or corporate fund is ordinarily a super fund with membership only open to employees working for that company. You can’t choose a company fund, but you may choose to remain in a company fund if you’re an employee of the company and an existing fund member. Some company funds permit relatives of existing members to join, too.

✔ Public sector funds: A public sector fund is usually only available to public sector employees and, in some cases, ex-public sector employees. You can’t choose a public sector fund, although some of them let you choose to remain a contributing member when you leave the public sector – in these circumstances you may be able to arrange for your new employer to contribute to your public sector fund.

✔ Retail funds or master trusts: Retail super funds are funds run by financial institutions such as banks, financial planning groups and fund managers. Anyone can join these types of funds, or master trusts. A master trust is an investment vehicle that pools money from individual investors or individual superannuation funds and invests this money into one or more underlying investment vehicles. You may be a member of a retail fund if your employer pays your SG contributions into a corporate master trust. A corporate master trust is just like a master trust for individuals but on a much larger scale. Banks and financial groups also offer what is commonly called a ‘super wrap’, which gives your super account access to many investment products via a single administration platform (for more info about super wraps, see the next section).

✔ Small APRA fund – a managed form of DIY super fund: Small APRA funds (for a definition, refer to Chapter 1) are not as popular as SMSFs, although a small APRA fund often offers the investment flexibility of a SMSF but a professional trustee runs the super fund. I explain the key differences in Chapter 1, and provide more details in ‘What makes a SMSF different from other funds?’, later in this chapter.

✔ Retirement Savings Account (RSA): A Retirement Savings Account (RSA) is a low-risk and low-return superannuation account provided by banks and other financial organisations. An RSA is not officially a super fund. RSAs, however, are more a parking vehicle rather than a long-term investment option. RSAs represent less than 1 per cent of all money invested in the superannuation market.

An easy way to find out what type of superannuation fund you belong to is by reading the material that your fund gives you. If possible, check your fund’s website. All super funds (including SMSFs in some circumstances) must make available a detailed information booklet or Product Disclosure Statement about the fund – it’s a document that should clearly set out information about your fund to enable you to compare your fund with similar super funds.

If you’re an employee, and you have not actively chosen your super fund, then your employer’s super contributions are currently being paid into a MySuper product, which will be one of four types of super funds described in the preceding list – industry fund, retail fund or master trust, corporate fund, or public sector fund. If an employee has not chosen his or her super fund (that is, the employer or an industrial agreement or award has selected the super fund) then, since January 2014, all SG contributions for this employee must be paid into a MySuper product. A MySuper product must have a single investment option, minimum insurance cover and standardised disclosure of fees. At the time of writing, there were 118 MySuper products available. For more information about MySuper, check out my website, SuperGuide (www.superguide.com.au).