The super products that failed the latest performance test
AMP, Insignia Financial and Bendigo SmartStart are the only superannuation fund providers whose platform trustee-directed products (TDP) failed the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) performance test.
Only seven out of the 563 products that APRA tested failed in its latest assessment, a sharp decrease from the 37 failures recorded in the year prior.
This is the third consecutive year that Insignia and AMP have featured on the list since the test was introduced.
AMP's North Guardian Balanced Fund, North Guardian Growth Fund and North Guardian Moderately Defensive Fund have failed in the past and are closed to new members.
This is the first year, however, that the MyNorth Index Moderately Defensive option has failed.
AMP group executive for platforms Edwina Maloney says the performance test as it applies to investment products on superannuation wrap platforms "is fundamentally flawed and urgently requires reform".
"The test covers just 3% of the platform market, causing distorted and misleading results, and potential consumer harm," she said.
"The test risks pushing superannuation members out of investment products which are meeting investment objectives and into more expensive, untested and/or potentially riskier products."
Bendigo Superannuation Plan's Balanced Wholesale Fund and Bendigo High Growth Index Fund also debuted on the 2025 failure list.
Betashares is the parent company of Bendigo Superannuation. It finalised its acquisition of Bendigo Superannuation for an undisclosed amount last September.
APRA has marked a consecutive fail against Insignia's MLC Wholesale Horizon 2 Income Portfolio, which sits on the Expand Essential Super and Extra Super Menu and is already closed to new members.
Insignia Financial said in a statement: "Of our 110 master trust and wrap options included in this year's test, Insignia Financial failed one platform TDP. This investment option has been closed since March 2024 and has 128 superannuation members."
"Insignia Financial has delivered strong investment performance across our MySuper and trustee-directed products, non-platform and platform investment options, and is pleased that all MySuper and TDP non-platform have passed the 2025 performance test."
Of the products that failed, five of them did so due to a combination of high administration fees and costs and relatively poor investment strategy implementation.
Overall, median fees and costs for members were lower across all product types. MySuper products' fees were down 2.3bps to 0.248%. Platform TDPs fees were down to 0.468% while non-platform TDPs were at 0.244%.
There is a total of 52 MySuper products, 374 non-platform TDPs and 137 platform TDPs under APRA's assessment.
APRA also assessed externally directed products (EDPs), in which the trustee or a connected entity has no control over the investment management and does not set the strategic asset allocation.
MySuper holds the lion's share of member savings with $1.2 trillion. Non-platform TDPs have $432 billion and platform TDPs have nearly $20 billion, while non-platform EDPs have $13.6 billion.
"SPS 515 requires trustees to embed a comprehensive approach for assessing the delivery of member outcomes and improve these outcomes when targets are not met through credible and timely action to rectify poor performance," APRA said.
Interestingly, APRA pointed out that a small number of platform TDPs passed the performance test in part due to trustees determining to apply rebates to members.
While this does benefit members, APRA said it will "engage with relevant trustees to reinforce the expectation there is an enduring performance improvement for members."
As at the end of June 2025, no MySuper products or non-platform TDPs failed APRA's annual test.
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