The super fund you decide to use will directly impact on your retirement savings.
Data from KPMG revealed industry trends for super funds for FY24, showing which funds grew and how much they cost members.
Self Managed Super Funds lose steam
According to the report, industry funds increased their market share. This trend has been consistent for the last five years, with SMSFs losing their market share.
Over FY24, industry funds increased their market share by 1.8%, growing from 38.2% to 40%. This growth came at the expense of self-managed super funds (SMSFs), which saw their market share decrease by 2.1%, from 30% to 27.9%. Over the past five years, industry funds have gained significant momentum, raising their market share by 10.4%, from 29.6% in 2020 to 40% in 2025.
Growth rates
The report also revealed the funds that are growing the fastest amongst Australian superannuation.
Growth rates were measured by Assets Under Management (AUM) and members.
AUM refers to the total market value of all the investments that a superannuation fund (or fund manager) manages on behalf of its clients or members.
According to the report, Care Super rose by more than 150% in terms of AUM and members. However this was largely due to its merger with Spirit Super.
We note that CareSuper appeared to have the highest growth in respect of AUM and members as a result of the consolidation of funds as part of a recent merger with Spirit Super (therefore demonstrating inorganic rather than organic growth). This was the biggest transaction for FY24 and CareSuper now has more than 590,000 members.
The second highest growth rate for AUM and members was with Vanguard Super. It had fund growth in AUM of 128% and 78% by members.
Other notable growth from the report includes:
- First Super saw member growth of 33%.
- HUB24 Super had AUM growth of 39% and member growth of 19%.
- Netwealth Super Services had AUM growth of 26%
- Hostplus Super had AUM growth of 22%.
Key mergers
There were also several mergers between existing super funds in FY24:
- Australian Retirement Trust merger with AvSuper (completed 7 May 2024)
- Australian Retirement Trust merger with Alcoa Super (completed 14 March 2024)
- Qantas Super merged with Australian Retirement Trust (completed 29 March 2025)
- CareSuper merged with Spirit Super.
Lowest cost per member
Another interesting comparison from the report was in the average cost per member for each super fund. The weighted average was $237.
According to the report, the lowest cost per member were from:
- ANZ Staff Super: $8
- Mercer: $79
- CSC: $96
- Hostplus: $103
- Rest: $130
It is becoming increasingly important for funds to consider how their operating costs are managed on an ongoing basis (given upwards inflationary pressures on technology and people costs). Cost management is a key aspect to manage sustainability challenges that are being faced by funds in the industry.
