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North vs UniSuper

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

North

Retail platform

North is an adviser-based super and pension platform. Its menu tiers and optional lifetime products make the actual account design more important than the brand-level price.

Membership

A financial adviser is required for MyNorth products. Read the PDS and target market determination for the particular account, including whether it is ordinary super, a pension or a lifetime product.

UniSuper

Industry fund

UniSuper offers a public Personal Account alongside its university-sector products. The Defined Benefit Division is fundamentally different from an ordinary investment account.

Membership

The Personal Account is available to people living in Australia aged over 15. Employer-linked products and the Defined Benefit Division have their own entry rules.

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.

APRA product data to 30 June 2026
MeasureChoose an investment optionMySuper Offering
Return basisChoose an optionMySuper net return after administration costs, $50,000 representative member
3-year return, per yearChoose an option9.80%
5-year return, per yearChoose an option6.89%
7-year return, per yearChoose an option7.41%
10-year return, per yearChoose an option8.11%
APRA strategic growth allocationChoose an option76.73%
Reported total fees, net of tax, at $50,000Choose an option$340 a year (0.68%)
Administration and advice costs, net of tax (included in total)Choose an option$80 a year
2026 performance testChoose an optionPass
New-member status at reporting dateCheck the current product eligibility rulesCheck the current product eligibility rules

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

North and UniSuper: product features and conditions
What to compareNorthUniSuper
Membership and access

A financial adviser is required for MyNorth products. Read the PDS and target market determination for the particular account, including whether it is ordinary super, a pension or a lifetime product.

Sources15

The Personal Account is available to people living in Australia aged over 15. Employer-linked products and the Defined Benefit Division have their own entry rules.

Sources1
Accounts and products

MyNorth and North super and pension products in Wealth Personal Superannuation and Pension Fund; separate from AMP SignatureSuper.

MyNorth Super

MyNorth Pension

MyNorth Lifetime Super

MyNorth Lifetime Income

MyNorth Deferred Lifetime Income

North legacy products

Sources3

Public Personal Account and employer accumulation products; Defined Benefit Division must be assessed separately.

Personal Account

Accumulation 1

Accumulation 2

Defined Benefit Division

Flexi Pension

Sources14
Investment choices

Investments selected through the product and adviser; not one platform-wide MySuper default.

MyNorth uses Grow, Select and Choice menus with different pricing. Members can hold investments across menus, with administration costs reflecting that mix. The cash account also has its own investment and administration charges, so uninvested cash is part of the cost calculation.

Sources2

Balanced (MySuper) for Personal Account and eligible accumulation products; MySuper does not apply to the DBD or pension.

Accumulation members, Personal Account members and Flexi Pension members can select from UniSuper's investment options. A Defined Benefit Division account has two components: a formula-based defined benefit, whose investments the member cannot choose, and an accumulation component that can use the normal menu.

Sources247
Insurance

North supports insurance arrangements, including cover held inside super. The policy and underwriting are separate from the investment platform. Ask the adviser to compare the cover, premium and exclusions with the existing policy before transferring.

Sources16

The insurance position depends on the product. Ordinary insured cover and the inbuilt benefits associated with the Defined Benefit Division should be compared separately. Check the current product PDS and your member statement before making a transfer.

Sources34
Retirement income

MyNorth offers ordinary pension accounts and separate Lifetime and Deferred Lifetime Income arrangements. The PDS says capital-access rules limit withdrawals and death/exit benefits for the lifetime-income accounts. Ordinary super and lifetime-income access terms must not be confused.

Sources345

Flexi Pension provides retirement-phase and transition-to-retirement accounts. The retirement-phase product requires an eligible condition of release and a minimum opening balance. Moving the entire UniSuper balance into a pension ends any insurance or DBD inbuilt benefits attached to the former account.

Sources3
Advice and support

MyNorth is available through an adviser, making the advice relationship part of the proposition. Fees may include initial, ongoing, fixed-term or ad hoc advice charges. Ask what each service will deliver and what happens to the account if that relationship ends.

Sources126

UniSuper offers advice services covering super and retirement as well as broader financial matters. Advice fee deductions have rules, limits and consent requirements; an agreement to pay an adviser is not a universal feature that applies the same way to every product.

Sources56
Fee details to check

Add account and administration fees, underlying investment costs, the cash-account charge, any trustee or lifetime fee, insurance and adviser charges. Menu mix, balance tiers and eligible family aggregation can change the total. A nil administration rate on one menu does not make all holdings or the full arrangement free.

Sources23

Compare Personal Account with other public accumulation products, using the cost of the chosen investment option. Employer products, the DBD and retirement-phase Flexi Pension can have different fees. Do not transplant one product's fee figure onto the whole UniSuper brand.

Sources4
Comparing investment performance

A platform does not have one investment return. Compare the actual portfolio after its underlying and platform costs, and disclose adviser fees separately if they are excluded. The performance of one managed fund cannot stand in for the account.

Show the exact menu mix, account type and advice fee.

Keep ordinary super and account-based pensions separate from lifetime-income comparisons.

Sources123456

Investment returns describe accumulation investments. The defined-benefit component uses a formula, rather than crediting the chosen market return to an account. A DBD-versus-accumulation decision cannot be reduced to two ten-year investment returns.

Keep UniSuper Personal Account and DBD comparisons separate.

Do not display a DBD benefit as a guaranteed investment return or infer its value from accumulation performance.

Sources27

THE SUPERGURU VIEW

Our take on North

Editorial assessment

North is a platform to assess with a specific portfolio and service proposal in front of you. Its menu and retirement features may help an adviser implement a plan, but the justification should be concrete. For a straightforward diversified holding, the comparison needs to show what the extra structure and advice cost buys.

Who might put it on their shortlist

  • People working with an adviser who need a broad investment and retirement product range.
  • Members examining lifetime-income arrangements and prepared to assess their access restrictions.
  • Families checking whether the applicable fee aggregation changes the overall cost.

What deserves a closer look

  • MyNorth requires an adviser, and advice charges are additional to investment-platform costs.
  • Money held in the cash account has its own charges.
  • Lifetime-income products have capital-access and beneficiary restrictions.
  • North and AMP SignatureSuper sit in different product and legal-fund structures; one cannot inherit the other's fee or performance result.

Sources3

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 UniSuper

Editorial assessment

UniSuper belongs on a public-fund shortlist, but the product distinction is essential. For an ordinary Personal Account member, compare the investment menu, cost and service in the usual way. For a DBD member, the more consequential question is what rights, benefits and future entitlements a change would affect.

Who might put it on their shortlist

  • People outside the university sector who want to compare UniSuper's Personal Account.
  • University-sector members reviewing their specific employer product.
  • Members who want an accumulation account and a pension option with the same provider.

What deserves a closer look

  • The defined-benefit component does not let you choose its underlying investments.
  • Changes involving the DBD can affect benefits that a public-fund comparison table cannot value.
  • Rolling the full account into Flexi Pension can end existing insurance and DBD inbuilt benefits.
  • A product's investment-return history does not predict an individual's formula-based benefit.

Sources23

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

Before choosing between North and UniSuper

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 North profile · Read the full UniSuper profile · Choose another comparison