Australian Ethical Super
- australianethical.com.au
- ✓ Verified company
- Award Winner 2023
254 reviews · Statistics
Australian Ethical Super is a ProductReview.com.au Awards Winner for 2023. Learn more
Excellent and ethical performance funds
I feel confident and relieved that my portfolio has excellent performance and is not being used to fund orginisations that fuel climate change and biodiversity loss. Thank you AE
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
lost so much money
i joined a couple of years ago and my balance is lower than what i started with. the videos on the website doesnt explain it and is over complicated. i never had this with my other super fund.
the fees are also very high and I have moved to Australian super
Great service!!
Absolutely excellent service. Friendly, straightforward, attentive to details, very prompt responses to enquiries. Couldn’t ask for more.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Peace of mind
I have been with this super fund about 30 years. Peace of mind knowing my life’s savings are minimising harm and maximising benefit to the planet. The bonus is a VERY healthy financial return. Extremely satisfied with the performance and the ethical investments.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Find out how Australian Ethical Super compares to other Retail Superannuation Funds
Know better, choose better.
not as impactful as other super funds
I invested in this Super Fund thinking my money was being used for impact and ethical investing. All it does it screens out certain stocks with some very loose thresholds.
Investing in insurance companies that don't cover people in areas vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Coles and Woolworths with record profits and people are struggling with grocery bills. Investing in Banks who fund live exports, large mining companies, fossil fuel companies...for a profit. Clearly this is a negative screen fund. There are other larger super funds that do great with their investments actual investment in renewable, social housing.
Do you research before investing with this super fund.
Worst out of all - In last 1 year lost more than 10-15k with them.
No idea how they invest my experience with them has been terrible only lost the super since I moved to them.
Such a disappointment
Everything was fine until I put in a TPD claim.
For context, I have also lodged with CBUS where within 1 month the claim was forwarded to the insurer, assessed, and paid.
Also, I haved worked in the superannuation industry for 2 decades, and I know that funds usually try very hard to support members, especially since insurance claims are paid for by insurers, not funds.
After 6 weeks, Australian Ethical hasn't even forwarded my claim to the insurer. I have rung repeatedly. I have received assurances of escalation. I have lodged a complaint
... Read more. Thus far, I have not received even a phone call or any communication at all, except for the automatic emails following lodgement. I simply cannot believe that a fund could possibly act so callously and care so little for its members.
Terrible!
I’ve been paying regularly into my insurance fund through this company and unbeknownst to me, they cut off my insurance two years ago due to low funds, but they didn’t tell me they just quietly close my account down, yet continued accepting payments from me, after many emails and time waiting for their reply, they said they offered to reinstate my insurance when I raise the issue month ago, but apparently I declined, that was not what happened, I’m disgusted with this company, I know had my family made a claim on my estate If I’d passed away within the last two years, they wouldn’t have paid it out yet they continued to take my payments. So ethical.
Best super fund
I’ve been with AE since 2007 & my super has performed well & grown. AE values are solid & are by no means a green washing super. The process of applying for early super was not easy - online portal is clunky & had to mail docs to show I was in financial hardship. The customer service team is local & very good.
Find out how Australian Ethical Super compares to other Retail Superannuation Funds
Know better, choose better.
Nice until you need your money
We've needed to draw down some of our account balances due to unexpected expenses. 2 weeks last time - now I've been waiting 3 weeks, and still no money.
Amazing customer service
Customer service is always amazing, no long wait time when I call, and quick replies to emails. The ethical and environmental standards are also amazing, and make me so happy to invest in.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Excellent customer service
Australian ethical was easy to communicate with and always responded to my communications promptly.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Find out how Australian Ethical Super compares to other Retail Superannuation Funds
Know better, choose better.
Great response time and assistance
Clear, helpful and timely reply to my query. Responded well to my concerns.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Great customer service
I only joined Australian ethical super recently and had a few questions, they were very quick to respond with really helpful answers. I feel much better knowing money is going towards ethical projects.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Great Super
I'm extremely happy to be with Australian Ethical Super. I have never had an issue with the service and the returns on my super is very satisfactory.
Collected in partnership with Australian Ethical
Questions & Answers
What is the reason for the sudden spike of reviews in March 2022? There's been 57 reviews that month, compared to the usual 1-3 reviews per month, raising the avg rating from 4.1 to 4.3. Even more suspicious, the only other time this happened was January 2016, which had 67 reviews (among 1-3 reviews per month), and this raised Australian Ethical average rating from 3.1 to 4.6 at the time. I feel like this needs a really good explanation. Is there a place where to read about this? Also did Australian Ethical do any work at all with all the negative feedback, to summarize, explain, show what improvements are planned? The only thing I'm seeing below is "Points of praise" - seems a little bit one sided sitting on a page next to tons of 1-2 star reviews.
Hi there ,
Thanks for your questions. During March 2022 we asked some of our members to leave a review if they felt like it, with no incentive offered. This is a common practice for a lot of companies. In January 2016 we believe a similar request was made to our members and they were happy to leave reviews for us so that we can continue to grow the good with ethical investing.
We are constantly working on improving our customer experience and use customer feedback to drive change within the organisation.
Best regards
The Australian Ethical team
I reviewed them as a member during this period and gave them a 3 star rating, I am expecting to lower that rating to 2 stars later this week. I attempted to change my investment from australian shares to conservative as that is their plan that is losing the least amount of money at present (every single plan is losing money now), the website appears to have failed during this switch retuning an error. I contacted them about this and the site states a 7 day response expectation. Businesses are expected to respond within 48 hours, that is the standard and for good reason, 7 days is a pathetic lack of effort. The site also states not to attempt multiple changes to plan as that will delay the change, so I currently have no idea whether the change occurred (as no confirmation is sent until it is processed) and still have to wait for them to bother explaining their website error, before even attempting to try to change on their website yet again. The website itself hardly supplies any historical information, I lost everything that my employer contributed, as well as all of my own contributions in the last year, plus approximately 10% of my total balance. All you get to show that is a very vague bar graph.
Hi there Andy. We apologise that the experience you have recently had with our online systems has been sub-standard. We are constantly reviewing our portal with the aim of improving the ease of doing business for our members. This feedback is certainly noted. Thanks again.
Who are the investors and shareholders of this super fund?
Where is is situated?
Is this fund investing in offshore companies?
Hi J.B.
Thanks for the questions.
Australian Ethical Investment is a publicly listed company and our shareholders can be anyone. In fact, we have over 9,000 shareholders and investors made up of predominantly individuals and some companies. Our super fund is one of the products offered by Australian Ethical Investment.
Our office is based in Sydney and we operate Australia-wide.
We invest in a broad range of companies that align with our Ethical Charter. These include Australian and international companies. You can see a full breakdown of the companies we invest in here:https://www.australianethical.com.au/personal/ethical-investing/companies-we-invest-in/
We hope that helps.
hi i would like to do investing but im not sure of what and how/ can you help me? thanks
Hi there - thanks for getting in touch.
We offer Superannuation (https://www.australianethical.com.au/super/) and Managed Funds (https://www.australianethical.com.au/managed-funds/).
Is there an area of investment you're particularly interested in? You're welcome to give us a call to discuss in more detail:1300 134 337
We hope that helps get you started.
Get an answer from our members and Australian Ethical representatives
Details
About Australian Ethical Super
Australian Ethical Super is a superannuation fund that invests in sustainable companies. It doesn’t invest in fossil fuel companies, weapons manufacturing, or nuclear. It also avoids investing in companies that cause unnecessary harm to animals, and invests in renewable power generation 13 times more than the global share market.
The super fund has a history of good returns, too. The Australian Ethical (Balanced) option scored second highest for investment performance in the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) annual MySuper Heatmap report in 2021.
With Australian Ethical Super, you can choose from 7 super investment options with varying minimum timeframes and different levels of investment risk.
Points of praise:
- Most reviewers found that Australian Ethical Super’s customer service was exceptional, saying that representatives were easy to reach and helpful in dealing with any questions or issues they had.
- They also reported that their super performed well and that they got great returns.
- According to reviewers, the process of signing up to Australian Ethical Super was quick and easy. Those who switched over from another fund also said that this was simple to do.
- Overall, reviewers were happy to be investing in a positive, clean future.
Australian Ethical Super has won a 2023 ProductReview.com.au Award in the Retail Superannuation Funds category! It owes its win to its customer service and transparency.
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.