The outcome of Chant West's and Epic Retirement's inaugural Epic Retirement Tick assessment have been released.
Chant West and the Epic Retirement Institute today announced the outcome of their new Epic Retirement Tick assessment, a first-of-its-kind framework for Australian super funds. Six super funds have earned the Tick:
· Australian Retirement Trust – Super Savings
· Aware Super
· Brighter Super
· Hostplus
· Telstra Super, and
· UniSuper.
The retirement-readiness framework, developed in a partnership between Chant West and Bec Wilson’s Epic Retirement Institute, offers a consumer-focussed assessment against 18 key criteria, evaluating the range of services and support super funds offer to pre-retirees and retirees. It establishes a benchmark for best practice for super funds’ retirement offering to members. Funds must satisfy at least 12 out of the 18 criteria, with successful funds earning the ‘Epic Retirement Tick – powered by Chant West’.
Chant West General Manager, Ian Fryer, said the initiative establishes a clear and easy-to-understand benchmark to help super fund members understand what ‘good’ looks like as they move towards retirement.
“Ultimately, we want as many Australians as possible to have access to the advice, products, tools and service that help them maximise their financial security in retirement,” Fryer said.
“We’re working closely with super funds to drive engagement and action to build strong retirement offerings for their members. This accreditation aims to create a practical framework for fund members to understand how their super fund can support them as they move towards retirement,” he said.
Author and founder of the Epic Retirement Institute, Bec Wilson, said “this report gives fund members a clear picture of how their fund stacks up against a robust set of criteria that reflect the realities of retirement in Australia today. It also sends a message to the funds themselves, showing them what matters most to their members. That’s really important - everyday Australians approaching retirement need to have a voice at the table, so they’re not invisible in the system that’s meant to serve them.
“At the time of this inaugural report, just six funds have qualified for the Tick. We need to see more, as Australians headed for retirement deserve better,” Wilson said.
“This is actually a huge opportunity for super funds. Funds that step up to deliver true retirement-ready services will not only win trust, they will set a new standard for how Australians experience retirement,” she said.
The Epic Retirement Tick criteria outline 18 key measures of a fund’s retirement readiness including investment options tailored to the pension phase, retirement income products, drawdown guidance, advice pathways, calculators and modelling tools, education and engagement strategies, and service delivery measures such as pension payment timeliness and call centre performance. Funds must meet the benchmark in at least 12 of the 18 criteria to be eligible for the Epic Retirement Tick in 2025-26. Criteria will be expanded in future years as the retirement landscape evolves.
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