The super fund that insures high-risk workers

Cbus MySuper

About the fund

Cbus MySuper is the default MySuper product available through the Cbus public offer industry fund.

Cbus is one of Australia's oldest industry super funds, having been established in 1984 for employees and employers, including sole traders, in and around the construction industry.

What it offers

What makes Cbus stand out is its simplicity.

It has only five investment choices: three are diversified, one invests in cash and there is a self-managed option, which gives members access to direct shares, exchange traded funds, term deposits and several Cbus asset class options.

Like almost all super funds, Cbus offers its members a full range of services such as superannuation and retirement products, life and TPD insurance and financial advice.

Members also have access to discounted health insurance and those in low-risk jobs are eligible to apply for income protection insurance. Its fees are just 1%.

Insurance is Cbus's secret weapon.

Many of its members who work in high-risk building trades often find that insurance is not only prohibitively expensive but they might not even be able to get cover. But because of Cbus's huge buying power it is able to provide insurance at rates which for some age groups can be even cheaper than the SelectingSuper insurance benchmarks.

Investment performance

A member who invested $10,000 in Cbus MySuper in 2006 would have accumulated $19,300 by December 2016, which is almost $2200 more than if they had invested in an average fund matching the SelectingSuper MySuper default index.

This was achieved by Cbus MySuper's consistently high investment returns of 6.5% pa since 2006, a full 1.2% pa ahead of the market benchmark, which it has beaten in nine of the past 10 financial years. This makes Cbus, over the decade, Australia's third best super fund.

On top of this, Cbus has the most transparent investment portfolio in the marketplace as it is one of the few funds to fully disclose its holdings. It was also among the first super funds in Australia to support the United Nations' Principles for Responsible Investment.

Rainmaker SelectingSuper's conclusion

With consistently high investment returns, low fees, easy-to-understand product design and ability to offer insurance for many members who otherwise might not be able to get it, Cbus and its MySuper option easily justify their AAA SelectingSuper rating.

Key fund data

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