Retail superannuation funds, which pay commissions and are most often recommended by planners, were at the bottom of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's first league table.
In contrast, industry and not-for-profit funds, which do not pay commissions and tend not to be recommended by financial planners, appeared at the top of the league table.
Industry Super Network executive manager David Whiteley said the results showed showed the industry was corrupt, and it was time for the government to stamp out commissions and conflicts of interest
Retail superannuation funds hit back, arguing that the tables did not fully reflect the performance of the funds because they averaged returns across all investment options and were outdated.
The results come just days after the Australian Securities & Investments Commission called for a ban on upfront and trailing commissions, as well as soft dollar and volume-based incentives for financial planners.
Superannuation Minister Chris Bowen said he supported industry moves away from commissions. "The government believes that the removal of conflicts of interest is vital, and reserves the right to legislate if industry reforms do not go far enough," he said.
Mr Whiteley said by pushing investors into underperforming funds, financial planners were costing people thousands of dollars and stripping billions from the economy. He said the league table showed industry super funds outperformed retail funds over the long term by about 2.7 per cent. There were no retail funds in the top 40 performing funds, while 47 of the top 50 funds over five years were not-for-profit funds.
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