Noel Whittaker's latest column argues the name on a fund tells you far less than what sits inside it.
Most of us judge an investment the way we judge a restaurant — by the sign out the front. Noel Whittaker's 23 September column takes two of the most trusted signs in Australian finance, “industry fund” and “ETF”, and asks what they actually guarantee. Not much, is his answer.
He traces where the trust came from. Industry super funds grew out of the 1986 Accord between the Hawke government and the ACTU, and by 2006 they accounted for more than 80 per cent of all super fund advertising — enough that “industry fund” and “superannuation” came to mean much the same thing. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) arrived later: Canada in 1990, the United States in 1993, Australia in 2001.
The numbers cut both ways. Over the ten years to June 2026 he cites Hostplus Balanced at 8.9 per cent a year, AustralianSuper Balanced at 8.5 per cent and UniSuper at 8.3 per cent. But he also points to research showing 89 per cent of Australian equity general funds underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 over 15 years, and 94 per cent of global equity funds underperformed their benchmark over ten. And listed investment companies (LICs) such as Australian Foundation and Argo now trade more than 12 per cent below the value of the shares they hold — interesting, though he cautions there is no guarantee that gap ever closes.
For anyone in their forties or fifties, this is the decade when your balance is finally large enough that what it owns and what it costs matter more than what you add each month. The label on the front tells you neither.
What does it own, how is your money invested, what does it cost, and what risks are you taking?
Read the full article: Industry fund or ETF? The label tells you less than you think — Noel Whittaker, YourLifeChoices, 23 September 2026.
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