What is a profit-to-member super fund?

If you’re looking around at different super funds, you’ll see a lot of words to describe them. Profit-to-member. Retail. Industry. Profit to shareholder. Corporate. Not-for-profit. And more. You might be thinking, what’s the difference and why does it matter?

We’re here to tell you the difference, so you can choose the fund that’s right for you.

Here at Rest, We’re a profit-to-member fund

Profit-to-member’ is often also called an ‘industry’ or ‘not-for-profit’ fund.

Some industry funds were originally created by trade unions and industry groups who wanted to be sure Australians had money set aside for retirement. When Rest Super began in 1988, our services were only available to people who worked in the retail industry. Today, anyone can join Rest and we look after the super of over 2 million members (as of April 2024).

So, what does profit-to-member really mean?

Here’s where it gets good. Generally, a profit-to-member fund returns profits to members, not shareholders or anyone else. Since these funds were established for members, the members’ needs always come first.

Profit-to-member funds typically charge lower fees than retail funds and these fees are generally designed to cover the costs of running the fund.

Finally, profit-to-member funds are generally known to deliver better returns than retail funds (although it’s always important to bear in mind that past performance is not an indicator of future performance).

What about retail funds?

A retail fund is for-profit. While these funds deliver returns to members, they also pay out dividends to shareholders.