We had to chuckle when we heard about the latest Industry Super fund campaign against Financial Planners (well, against some Financial Planners – apparently the ones they employ to recommend Industry Super funds are ok!). Surely they can see the irony in the situation… can’t they? 

Irony #1: Although Industry Funds constantly attack Financial Planners who offer advice, they themselves offer it, and in fact charge up to $4,000 (or more) for the privilege! 

From the ‘Industry Funds Financial Planning’ Financial services Guide: “Fees will be charged from $220 upwards depending on the complexity of the advice. The range for most SoA’s is expected to be between $660 and $4,000 (but can be higher for more complex requirements)”.  See:  http://www.iffp.com.au/assets/FSG0810.pdf

Irony #2: The Industry Super Funds website ‘comparator’ only includes the more expensive retail Super funds

Why doesn’t the comparator include any of the ‘Wrap’ Super funds that are so widely used today, for example Asgard, BT, Macquarie or CFS? Also, what about the cheaper ‘Wholesale’ version of products such as CFS FirstChoice? What about Employer super clients who receive substantial discounts?

We might as well pick out the most expensive industry funds, and compare them with the cheapest retail funds for a comparison – and ignore the relevant features and benefits of each of the products…sounds like a good, fair comparison, right? It’s laughable. See the comparator: http://www.industrysuper.com/why-join_superfund-comparator.aspx

Irony #3: So called ‘Not for Profit’ Industry Funds are spending millions  of dollars on advertising

As well as the huge (and expensive)  ‘From little things big things grow’ and ‘Compare the Pair’ TV advertising campaigns, industry funds are now running print media ads in metropolitan newspapers in every capital city. This doesn’t even take into account other marketing spending, such as AFL and NRL sponsorships (check out HostPlus’ sponsorship deals). Wouldn’t industry funds have cheaper fees if the millions spent on advertising went back to the fund members?

See: http://www.industrysuper.com/latest-news_detail.aspx?view=48  (ps apparently they offer ‘conflict of interest free fincial advice’……well, I can see a couple of things wrong with that statement!)