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AMP Super vs Expand

Compare what each fund offers, then choose investment options to put their published costs and returns side by side.

By SuperGuru Group · Research checked 11 September 2026 · Historical APRA figures to 30 June 2026

AMP Super

Retail fund

AMP Super combines SignatureSuper's age-based MySuper options with investment choice, digital advice and retirement products. Its Lifetime Boost feature needs more explanation than a simple benefits tick.

Membership

Check the SignatureSuper PDS and any employer plan's terms. Restricted employer MySuper arrangements should not be treated as the same product as the standard SignatureSuper MySuper offer.

Expand

Retail platform

Expand is a super and pension platform with Essential and Extra product tiers. Its value depends on the investment menu and services a member actually uses.

Membership

Use the Essential or Extra PDS and target market determination. The platform is commonly used with advice, and an application requires an investment choice; Essential allows a cash holding while a member decides on a longer-term strategy.

Compare fees and investment returns

Choose the actual investment pathway for each account. For lifecycle products, select the named stage relevant to you. No stage is selected automatically.

Choose an investment option to see the figures

The costs and returns belong to the selected product, option or lifecycle stage.

Source: APRA Comprehensive Product Performance Package 2026, published 28 August 2026. Fees reflect the reporting year to 30 June 2026, are net of tax, use standard arrangements and exclude member-activity fees. Dollar figures are rounded. They are not a current quote. Check the latest PDS for changes, insurance premiums and any separately charged advice.

Returns are annualised historical results. Different return bases, risk levels and periods cannot be treated as interchangeable. MySuper net returns use a $50,000 representative balance even when you change the fee balance. A lifecycle stage return does not track a person moving between stages. Missing figures mean not reported, not zero. Past returns do not predict future returns. Read our method and APRA's definitions.

How the products differ

AMP Super and Expand: product features and conditions
What to compareAMP SuperExpand
Membership and access

Check the SignatureSuper PDS and any employer plan's terms. Restricted employer MySuper arrangements should not be treated as the same product as the standard SignatureSuper MySuper offer.

Sources3

Use the Essential or Extra PDS and target market determination. The platform is commonly used with advice, and an application requires an investment choice; Essential allows a cash holding while a member decides on a longer-term strategy.

Sources2
Accounts and products

SignatureSuper in AMP Super Fund. MyNorth is a separate platform and legal super fund.

SignatureSuper

AMP MySuper Lifestages

AMP Flexible Retirement Income

AMP Lifetime Retirement Income

Sources6

Expand Essential and Extra in IOOF Portfolio Service Superannuation Fund; not MLC MasterKey.

Expand Essential Super and Pension

Expand Extra Super and Pension

Retirement Boost

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Investment choices

AMP MySuper Lifestages

AMP's MySuper strategy allocates members by date of birth and gradually changes the growth and defensive mix. SignatureSuper also offers investment choice, including index-style, multi-manager and single-manager approaches, subject to the current menu.

Sources12

Member-selected investments; not a single platform-wide MySuper default.

Essential combines a menu of managed funds and model portfolios with Essential+, which adds selected ETFs and term deposits. Extra offers a much broader selection of managed funds, model portfolios and listed investments. Investments across menus can carry different administration charges.

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Insurance

Use the insurance guide for your SignatureSuper membership or employer plan. Insurance fees depend on the cover held; the presence of an AMP account does not establish the level of cover or that an application would be accepted.

Sources3

Expand advertises group and retail insurance options. The policy, underwriting and cost depend on the cover arranged; the platform's investment features do not establish that a member is insured.

Sources1
Retirement income

AMP offers a flexible allocated-pension product and a separate Lifetime Retirement Income product. Lifetime Boost in accumulation only produces its intended retirement benefit if the member later takes the AMP lifetime-income product. It is not an immediate cash bonus paid into the account.

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Both tiers have pension products. Retirement Boost adds a separate lifetime-income proposition with its own eligibility and access rules. It should be compared with other lifetime products rather than treated as an ordinary account-based pension.

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Advice and support

Eligible AMP Super members can access Digital Financial Advice through My AMP at no extra fee. It has an eligibility and service scope; more complex planning should be compared separately from the digital service.

Sources4

An advised arrangement needs two assessments: whether the adviser service is useful and whether the platform is an appropriate way to implement it. Ask for the full ongoing cost and the consequences of ending the advice relationship.

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Fee details to check

Identify the product, selected option and employer arrangement before comparing charges. Costs can include administration, investment and transaction costs, insurance and personal advice. North's menu-based fees should not be substituted for SignatureSuper's charges.

Sources3

Add platform administration, account charges, underlying investment fees, transaction or brokerage costs, insurance and any adviser fee. Essential+ has a higher administration rate on the first part of the balance than the ordinary Essential menu. A low fee quoted for one menu is not a price for every portfolio.

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Comparing investment performance

MySuper Lifestage returns belong to birth cohorts and their changing investment mix. Compare the same cohort or age and common end date. An option's short-term return is not evidence that every SignatureSuper member received the same result.

Keep AMP Super and MyNorth separate.

Explain the MySuper-to-Choice change and conditional nature of Lifetime Boost before presenting it as a benefit.

Sources1

There is no single meaningful Expand investment return. Measure the chosen portfolio after all applicable costs. The performance test covers only eligible trustee-directed investments, so a result for one option does not describe every investment on the platform.

State Essential versus Extra and the menu used.

Keep option-specific performance-test outcomes attached to the relevant option IDs.

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THE SUPERGURU VIEW

Our take on AMP Super

Editorial assessment

AMP has a more involved retirement proposition than a simple accumulation account. That may interest someone planning how super and the Age Pension could work together, but the value rests on the conditions and the eventual retirement product. The Lifetime label needs careful reading before it becomes a reason to choose the fund.

Who might put it on their shortlist

  • People who want an age-based super strategy and access to digital advice.
  • Members examining their employer's SignatureSuper terms.
  • People willing to investigate a lifetime-income product as part of retirement planning.

What deserves a closer look

  • Activating Lifetime Boost permanently changes the account from MySuper to Choice. AMP notes that MySuper has additional legal protections, even though activation itself does not change current fees, insurance or investments.
  • Lifetime Boost's benefit is only realised if the member takes the relevant AMP Lifetime Retirement Income product.
  • Eligibility excludes certain ages and account circumstances, including defined-benefit and TTR arrangements.
  • Compare the lifetime-income product's access, payment and beneficiary rules with an ordinary allocated pension.

Sources5

Based on the cited product features. These are general reasons to investigate the fund, not a personal recommendation. Supporting sources.

THE SUPERGURU VIEW

Our take on Expand

Editorial assessment

Expand makes most sense to investigate when a person needs its investment or retirement features and can explain why. A broad platform can be useful with a carefully chosen portfolio, but it also creates several layers of fees to compare. The product tier and menu selection should be visible in any price comparison.

Who might put it on their shortlist

  • People using an adviser to implement a portfolio that needs a broad investment menu.
  • Members comparing direct listed investments, managed portfolios and retirement features within one platform.
  • Families checking whether available fee arrangements change the total cost.

What deserves a closer look

  • Expand's 28 August 2026 notice says MLC MultiActive High Growth (MLC0397AU) and MLC MultiActive Geared (MLC0449AU) failed the 2026 performance test within the covered Expand products. Both remained open to new members because this was their first failure.
  • That notice concerns specified investment options, not a failure of every Expand investment or the whole platform.
  • Portfolio complexity, cash holdings, brokerage and advice fees can materially change the cost.
  • Lifetime products have access and beneficiary terms that require separate assessment.
  • Members transferred from Grow Wrap, Voyage or PortfolioOne should use their Expand welcome documents and fee schedule. June 2026 figures for those former products describe the pre-transfer account.

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Based on the cited product features. These are general reasons to investigate the fund, not a personal recommendation. Supporting sources.

Before choosing between AMP Super and Expand

Use the membership rules to establish which accounts are available to you. Then compare the total price of the investment option and cover you need. A lower fee or higher historical return alone does not tell you which fund is suitable.

Ask both funds to confirm insurance acceptance, exclusions, waiting periods and whether cover would change when you leave your employer. Obtain advice before giving up a defined benefit or an insurance policy you may not be able to replace. ASIC Moneysmart explains the comparison checks.

Read the full AMP Super profile · Read the full Expand profile · Choose another comparison