A focus on delivering better services since the Hayne royal commission has led to higher satisfaction for retail super funds than their industry fund counterparts, according to new research findings from CoreData and Professional Planner publisher Conexus Financial.

While industry funds have been focused on promoting their FY25 investment returns over the past week or two, as the Retirement Income Covenant marks its third anniversary the CoreData research shows they’re not winning the battle for retirement.

The researcher’s Best Possible Retirement 2025 report found overall trust for industry funds (48.9) lags the retail sector (56.9).

CoreData global CEO Andrew Inwood tells Professional Planner the success of retail funds is because retirement is handled in combination with advice.

“The other part of it is they lean into the service part of it more,” Inwood says.