Compare what each fund offers, then choose investment options to put their published costs and returns side by side.
Retail fund
Bendigo SmartStart Super continues under Betashares ownership. Existing product terms should be assessed separately from any proposed future Betashares super product.
Check current availability for the specific product and option. Certain failed investment options are closed to new members.
Retail super and pension range
OneAnswer has a current Frontier super and pension range alongside older closed products. Investment choice is central to Frontier, and its current insurance arrangements differ from older descriptions.
Frontier accepts applications from people receiving its PDS in Australia, including applications submitted by a financial adviser. The usual minimum initial Personal Super investment is $2,000, or $1,000 with a Regular Investment Plan. Older OneAnswer Personal Super and pension products are closed to new members.
Choose the actual investment pathway for each account. For lifecycle products, select the named stage relevant to you. No stage is selected automatically.
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.
| What to compare | Bendigo SmartStart Super | OneAnswer (OnePath) |
|---|---|---|
| Membership and access | Check current availability for the specific product and option. Certain failed investment options are closed to new members. Sources123 | Frontier accepts applications from people receiving its PDS in Australia, including applications submitted by a financial adviser. The usual minimum initial Personal Super investment is $2,000, or $1,000 with a Regular Investment Plan. Older OneAnswer Personal Super and pension products are closed to new members. Sources124 |
| Accounts and products | Bendigo SmartStart Super and SmartStart Pension. Sources123 | OneAnswer Frontier Personal Super and Pension, with separate notes for closed OneAnswer Personal Super and pension accounts. ANZ Smart Choice and Grow Wrap are outside this profile's numerical scope. OneAnswer Frontier Personal Super OneAnswer Frontier Pension OneAnswer Frontier transition-to-retirement pension Closed OneAnswer Personal Super, Allocated Pension and Term Allocated Pension accounts Sources14 |
| Investment choices | MySuper is an age-based strategy using Growth Index, Balanced Index and Conservative Index at different ages, with a separate choice menu. Sources123 | Frontier requires the applicant to select investment options. The trustee will not choose one and cannot proceed with an application that lacks a selection. ANZ Smart Choice MySuper figures reported under the same historical legal fund are not OneAnswer defaults. The range includes diversified and single-sector managed funds, OneAnswer index funds, MultiSeries portfolios combining active and passive investments, and ANZ Term Deposits. Auto-rebalancing and dollar-cost-averaging facilities can help administer a chosen mix, but they cannot be used together and do not apply to term deposits. Check the current investment guide and product notices for closures or strategy changes. Sources126 |
| Insurance | Insurance is available under the SmartStart policy and guide. Sources123 | The current Additional Information Guide says insurance is not available directly through Frontier Personal Super. A separate risk-only super insurance product may be payable using the Frontier account, with advice about the arrangement. An October 2025 notice removed OneCare Super references from the new-member documents. Existing members should check their actual policy and account, especially where an older OneAnswer product still holds group cover. Sources245 |
| Retirement income | SmartStart Pension has its own product documentation. Sources123 | Frontier Pension offers an account-based pension and a transition-to-retirement pension. The initial pension minimum is $20,000. Payment choices include monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual intervals. An existing Term Allocated Pension is a different product with its own payment and withdrawal restrictions; it should not be treated as an ordinary Frontier pension. Sources24 |
| Advice and support | Use the current support and advice documents to establish services and charges. Sources123 | The product is designed to support an investment portfolio chosen with a financial adviser. An Adviser Service Fee is negotiated separately. Ask for the services and their cost in writing, including what happens to the investment strategy if ongoing advice ends. Sources23 |
| Fee details to check | Use the current PDS and updates; ownership change alone does not establish a fee reduction. Sources123 | The December 2025 fee guide lists a $135.29 annual Member Fee for Personal Super and TTR accounts below the qualifying $50,000 balance, equivalent to $115 after the stated tax benefit. The ordinary pension Member Fee is $115. ANZ Term Deposits and ANZ Cash Advantage have special exclusions, and eligible linked Frontier accounts can request a waiver. A waived Member Fee does not remove investment costs: the selected fund's Ongoing Fee, other investment and transaction costs, any levies or expense recoveries, and advice still need to be included. Some June 2026 APRA externally directed OneAnswer rows contain zero total-cost entries at higher balances that conflict with the fee guide. Those entries should not be interpreted as a free investment account. Sources37 |
| Comparing investment performance | The current site reports that Bendigo Balanced Wholesale and Bendigo High Growth Index did not pass the 2026 APRA performance test. This finding is option-specific, not a claim about every SmartStart option. Sources123 | Use the exact Frontier investment option, dates and return basis. The legal fund's historical reporting also includes other brands, so its overall result is not a OneAnswer portfolio return. Some options are trustee-directed and receive performance-test results; other externally directed options have no result in the package. An absent test result does not mean a pass or failure. Only OneAnswer Frontier Personal Super pathways are matched to this profile's APRA table. June 2026 figures retain Retirement Portfolio Service ABN 61808189263. They must not be relabelled as current ANZ Smart Choice data after a later transfer. The OneAnswer Investment Portfolio is an investment product outside super and is excluded from this comparison. Sources7 |
THE SUPERGURU VIEW
Most useful for an existing member reviewing their exact option and current alternatives.
Based on the cited product features. These are general reasons to investigate the fund, not a personal recommendation. Supporting sources.
THE SUPERGURU VIEW
OneAnswer is most useful to assess with the account name and investment list already in front of you. Frontier can accommodate an advised portfolio or a simpler index holding, but there is no default allocation to make that decision for you. For an existing member, the practical questions are what the full account costs, how insurance is arranged, and whether an older product has features a transfer would surrender.
Based on the cited product features. These are general reasons to investigate the fund, not a personal recommendation. Supporting sources.
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 Bendigo SmartStart Super profile · Read the full OneAnswer (OnePath) profile · Choose another comparison
Checked 2026-09-11. Documents and product terms can change after this date.
Checked 2026-09-11. Documents and product terms can change after this date.