Superannuation fund BUSSQ managing $7.5billion fails crucial test – as Australia’s best performing funds are revealed
More than 66,000 Australian workers will be sent letters warning that their superannuation fund has underperformed, after Queensland-based construction industry fund BUSSQ became the only MySuper product in the country to fail the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's (APRA) annual performance test. The failure means BUSSQ must notify affected members and could face a ban on accepting new members if it fails again next year. Consumer advocates have criticised the fact that BUSSQ has no similar obligation to warn retirees holding an equivalent product, arguing they deserve the same protection.
APRA assessed 547 products in its 2026 review, with BUSSQ returning just 5.89 per cent in the year to June 30, far below the 9.5 per cent median for growth funds, largely due to heavy exposure to cash and fixed income. A further 11 trustee-directed products, including those from MLC, AMP and the Bendigo Superannuation Plan, also failed, with poor investment performance rather than high fees cited as the main cause. Separately, APRA revealed the top-performing growth funds, led by UniSuper Growth with a 12.3 per cent return, followed by NGS Super Diversified and CFS FirstChoice Growth at 11.5 per cent each.
- BUSSQ is the only MySuper fund to fail APRA's 2026 performance test
- Over 66,000 members will get underperformance warning letters
- UniSuper Growth topped performers with a 12.3% annual return
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Superannuation is Australia's compulsory retirement savings system, where workers' pay contributions are invested by dedicated funds over their working lives. To keep these funds accountable, the regulator APRA runs an annual performance test comparing returns against benchmarks, and funds that fail must warn their members and could eventually be barred from taking on new customers.
BUSSQ is a fund originally set up for Queensland's construction industry, managing around $7.5 billion on behalf of its members. It has become the only "MySuper" product, the default, low-fee option most workers are automatically enrolled into, to fail this year's test, meaning tens of thousands of its members will now receive official letters about the shortfall.
This matters because underperformance compounds over decades and can leave people with significantly less money at retirement, so the test is meant to help savers spot and switch away from weaker funds. The story also touches on other funds that failed for similar reasons, and highlights which funds performed best, giving readers a broader picture of how the superannuation sector is faring.