ISA relaunches Compare the Pair campaign

Industry Super Australia (ISA) has relaunched its Compare the Pair consumer awareness campaign, bringing the rivalry between industry and retail superannuation funds back into the spotlight. 

ISA chief executive David Whiteley said the relaunch comes amidst concerns the Government’s amendments to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation might bring sales commissions back into financial advice. 

The campaign so far consists of two videos resembling those aired as part of the original campaign launched 10 years ago. 

However, while the original campaign focused on the impact of on-going sales commissions paid to financial advisers, the new campaign looks at the difference the last decade would have made to a person’s superannuation balance had they switched to an industry super fund then. 

“Allowing financial advisers to once again receive a range of sales commissions will eat into the savings of many Australians, and that’s something consumers should take into account when they’re thinking about which fund offers the best performance,” Whiteley said. 

“The prospect of weakened consumer protections just serves to strengthen the case for boosting Australians’ awareness about how they can protect and grow their super savings,” he added. 

The new version of the Compare the Pair campaign uses figures based on research provided by SuperRatings. 

However, the fine print points out that past performance is not a “reliable indicator of future performance and should never be the sole factor considered when selecting a fund”. 

Whiteley said a comparative analysis of fees together with investment performance over the last decade showed Industry SuperFunds provide “substantially better value” to members on average than the retail super fund sector. 

“Industry SuperFunds don’t pay sales commissions to advisers, and they have low fees,” he said. 

“This, together with their strong investment performance has meant that over the last decade the average Industry SuperFund member would have been better off than the average retail super fund member.”

The campaign will be aired on commercial television around the country and on small format outdoor billboards, while the videos are also available on YouTube.