The overall satisfaction level with superannuation has fallen over the past 12 months, but SMSF members continue to report high levels of satisfaction with their fund compared to those in Australian Prudential Regulation Authority-regulated funds, according to Roy Morgan.
The research firm stated that its latest “Superannuation Satisfaction Report” showed an overall super fund satisfaction rating of 66.6 per cent in February 2023, down 5.4 per cent from 72 per cent in January last year, which was the highest recorded satisfaction level.
Roy Morgan noted that despite the fall in satisfaction, the current level is well above the long-term average of 57.9 per cent and higher than at any time prior to the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 when satisfaction levels were at record highs.
SMSFs continued to lead the way in terms of satisfaction with a rating of 74.7 per cent, down 5.3 per cent over the past year, followed by public sector funds, which had a rating of 73.4 per cent, down by 5.7 per cent from January 2022.
Industry funds had the largest decline in satisfaction, falling 6.3 per cent from 72.2 per cent in early 2022 to 67.9 per cent by February 2023. In comparison, the satisfaction rating for retail funds fell 5.6 per cent from 66.9 per cent to 61.3 per cent over the year covered by the report.
Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said the movements in the Australian share market and consecutive increases in interest rates influenced how people viewed their superannuation.
“The drop in customer satisfaction from a year ago has occurred as the ASX 200 experienced a period of volatility since mid-2021,” Levine said.
“The ASX 200 reached a high of 7628.9 on 13 August 2021 and fell by almost 1200 points when the index closed at 6433.4 on 20 June 2022. Since the middle of last year, the ASX 200 has significantly recovered and closed at 7258.4 at the end of February.”
He added the period covered by the ratings (September 2022 to February 2023) also included interest rate increases totalling 1.5 per cent, which have lifted official interest rates to their highest point in a decade at 3.35 per cent.
“Looking forward, the market faces a challenging environment with inflation at a 32-year high of 7.8 per cent in the year to December 2022, while the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) has increased official interest rates to 3.6 per cent – the highest for over a decade since mid-2012,” he said.
“As well as high inflation and interest rates, there is also emerging instability within the US and European financial industries in recent weeks following the sudden bankruptcies of two mid-sized US banks – Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank – and the bailout of giant Swiss bank Credit Suisse.”
The report, which surveyed more than 22,000 Australians with personal superannuation, is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source consumer survey.
