Australians with savings in the BUSSQ Balanced Growth MySuper option have been warned to review their superannuation after the fund became the only industry super provider to fail the latest annual performance test.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) found that the option underperformed its benchmark by 0.57 percentage points a year, despite delivering an average return of 7.04 per cent annually over the assessment period.
The result was the first failure for BUSSQ’s MySuper product. APRA assessed 547 superannuation products in 2026, with 12 failing the test — one MySuper option and 11 trustee-directed products.
BUSSQ has about $7.4 billion in assets, with almost $6.5 billion invested in its default strategy, meaning the result could affect a significant number of members.
Chief executive Damian Wills said the fund recognised the importance of the performance test and was working to improve outcomes for members.
“It does not affect the security of members’ savings, and our Balanced Growth MySuper product remains open to new and existing members,” he said.
APRA’s test is designed to compare the long-term investment performance of superannuation products against prescribed benchmarks. Funds that fail must notify affected members in writing.
A second consecutive failure carries more serious consequences: the investment option can be closed to new members until it passes a future assessment. Existing members are not automatically moved, but are able to consider switching to another investment option or fund.
APRA chair John Lonsdale said the latest results showed that pockets of underperformance remained and reinforced the need for trustees to take timely and effective action.
The regulator also released additional data on fees, returns and investment performance, saying administration fees had continued to fall across the sector, although platform-based trustee-directed products remained more expensive and showed higher levels of long-term underperformance.
